Fantaisie Sign
by RySenkari
Summary: It is 4 years after Bebop, and a 18yearold Edward journeys to NeoParis on Mars to ensure her admission to a good college. What will she find when she gets there? Adventure? Intrigue? Love? Anything is possible!
1. Genius In France

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me. 

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

---

"And it's a beautiful morning here in the Plarez region in beautiful Central America, on February 6, 2076! This is Nat Scanner, your morning DJ here on 345.3, radio for the resilient Earthling, and now it's time for your 9 o'clock block of nonstop rock!"

I opened my eyes and yawned, tiredly reaching back toward the snooze button on my clock radio.

"Still sleepy...." I mumbled. I knew it was a beautiful day, but I was just so tired! Yawning again, I sat up and blinked my eyes as some loud rock band blared on the radio perched on the shelf next to my bed. "Daddy, did you take my radio and switch to your poundy-poundy rock music again?"

No answer. He was probably outside or something, eating breakfast or checking out craters or something. I slid out of my bed and stretched my arms, then walked over to the closet and opened it up.

"What to wear, what to wear," I said softly. "Teddy bear!"

I removed my white teddy bear t-shirt from the closet and smiled. The shirt had actually come with a teddy bear, which I also kept on the shelf on my bed, next to the radio. I picked out a pair of green shorts from the small drawer near the closet and slipped off the pink nightgown I was wearing to put them on. After I had gotten dressed, I picked up a small pink comb from the top of my drawer and began combing my light-red hair which went down to just past my shoulders. It used to be short and unkempt until about a couple of years ago, when I visited Faye-Faye after she had docked on Earth. It had been a while since I'd seen her, and this particular time, she had wanted to share tons of fashion tips with me. 

---

"Edward, have you ever thought about growing your hair longer?" Faye-Faye asked.

"Longer hair for Edward?" I replied, slightly bewildered. "But Edward likes Edward's hair the way it is! And Faye-Faye's hair is short!"  


"Yeah, but your hair's not only short, it's all... well, it goes all over the place, and I think that a nice, tanned girl like you should grow it longer, especially since you're getting to be the age when men will start looking at you...."

"Men looking at Edward?" I said quizzically. "Um..."

"Just try growing your hair out a bit and see how it looks!" Faye said, smiling. "Just once, okay? If you don't like it, I'll... um..."

"You will let Edward style your hair!" I told her. "I have some funny-funny ideas for you, Faye-Faye!"  


Faye frowned.

  
"You wouldn't... shave it all off, would you?" Faye asked. 

I just smiled at Faye, a big, toothy grin. Faye smirked.

"Trust me, you'll love having your hair long!" Faye said. "You've got to show me how it looks too, okay?"

---

Growing out my hair didn't take very long, only a few weeks or so. And Faye-Faye was absolutely right! Growing it out made it a bit harder to take care of... well, a lot harder, since I'd never really messed with my hair before, but it made it a lot more fun, too! When I saw Faye-Faye again in three months, she was ecstatic, which was most of the reason I'd grown my hair anyway, to make her happy. After leaving the Bebop, I tried to keep in touch with Faye-Faye and Jet-person, with quite a bit of success, considering that I knew where to look (being a hacker and all....)! The first time I talked to them after leaving was three weeks later, when Ein and I had stopped at a small town and there they were, docked at the port to pick up supplies. Faye-Faye seemed so sad, so I asked Jet-person why, and he told me that Spike-person had been... he had been killed in a fight with a man named Vicious. I had never even heard of Vicious before, but hearing that Spike-person was dead... for the first time in a while, I cried. I didn't cry much, but I did cry, and I didn't cry again until a few months later, a short time after I had found my father, when Ein died after catching some sort of disease from a badly-prepared piece of meat that had been fed to him when we stopped at a restaurant. In the four years since I'd left the Bebop, I've never forgotten Ein or Spike-person....

---

After combing my hair, I walked out of my room and into the main room of the... not a house, but a fairly large trailer which my dad Appledelhi purchased for me to live in after I reunited with him and we went on the road together, several months after I'd left the Bebop. The trailer was hitched to the back of Daddy's blue pickup truck, and it was really nice. Daddy and I both worked to keep it clean (although I worked a bit more than he did), and the main room had everything I'd need, and then some, with the door to the bathroom located next to the door to my bedroom. The room contained a small kitchen, several chairs and a couch, a couple of tables, a small color television with satellite broadcasts beamed in from all over the Solar System, and of course, my trusty computer Tomato, which I had left out on the coffee table. I had just walked over to the kitchen area to make breakfast for myself when Daddy poked his head in through the main door. 

"Francoise, I'm making some eggs outside on the grill if you want those," he said with a smile on his face. He still referred to me by my given name, Francoise, and I had stopped reminding him to call me Edward a long time ago. At least he remembered that I was his daughter!

"I'm fine, Daddy," I told him. "I'm making some pancakes, okay?"

"Ya sure?" he asked. "The eggs are lookin' mighty good today!"

"Nope-nope, I'll have pancakes thank you!" I said quickly. He nodded and went back outside, and I quickly fried up three pancakes, placed them on a plate, poured a generous amount of butter and syrup on them, and traipsed back to the coffee table, setting the plate next to my computer. "Now hmm, lessee..."

I began typing. 

"Here we go!" I said happily, having quickly found what I was looking for. After taking a few bites out of my pancakes, I began typing again. "New Parisian Liberty College, Department of Admissions! Let's see... names... Adler, Agori, Anderson, Apennil... no Appledelhi yet? C'mon!" 

Clicking on my mouse a couple of times, I went back to check my e-mail. 

"Two new mails!" I said. "First one.... it's from Faye-Faye!"

I opened up the e-mail, and Faye-Faye's smiling face appeared on my screen.

"Hey Edward, guess what?" Faye-Faye said excitedly. "Today, we caught two big bountyheads!"

"Two!" Jet-person said, leaning in front of Faye-Faye and holding up two fingers. Faye-Faye pushed him away.

"One was a small fry, only 65,000 wulongs," she said. "But the second one... get this, SIXTEEN MILLION WULONGS!"

As Faye-Faye said the words 'sixteen million wulongs', her eyes lit up, and the biggest smile that I'd ever seen appeared on her face. She grinned.

"It wasn't easy, I tell ya!" Faye said. "Yeah, we had to chase him a long way. We caught him though. Jet roughed him up, and then yours truly pointed a gun in his face and said 'you're going down, buddy!'! Then, I slapped the cuffs on him and turned his sorry butt in! Can you believe it? Sixteen million wulongs! Well, I gotta go... can't have all that money without spending it, ya know? I'll get you a present or something though, k? Reply and tell me what you want, and it's yours! As long as it's not, ya know, too expensive. Just kidding! Anything you want! Well, catch ya later, okay? Wooooo!"

"I'm so happy for you, Faye-Faye!" I squealed. "Should I ask for something? She said anything Edward wants.... maybe a new dress? No, too girly. How about a car? But what would Edward need a car for..."

"You okay, Francoise?" my father asked, stepping inside. "I heard you squealing awfully loud...."

"Guess what, Daddy?" I said, still smiling. "Faye-Faye caught this big bad bountyhead and now she's got a ton of money!"

"They're still doing that?" my father replied. "Geez, who'd she catch?"

"Evidently someone really tough," I said. "I think Faye-Faye's exaggerating a bit, but her and Jet-person sounded like they had a tough time bringing him in!"

"I'll bet. Sixteen million wulongs is a ton of money... that'd buy like ten of these trailers. Well, I'd better go back outside before my eggs get cold. You sure you don't want any?"  


"I'm sure. Want some of Edward's world-famous pancakes?"

My dad chuckled.

"No, that's okay," he said. "Get anything from the college yet?"

I shook my head.

  
"That's too bad," he said regretfully. "You know that's the college your mother went to, don't you? It's a really good school.... only the smartest and most dedicated scholars get in!"

"I know, daddy," I said. 

"They've gotta let you in, especially after you completed all those advanced correspondence courses in like, seven months! You didn't hack their computers to get the answers and stuff, did you?" my father said jokingly.

"Edward could have, but Edward didn't!" I said. "Edward passed the courses fair and square!"

My dad smiled.

"I know you did, sweetheart," he said. "Well, like I said, my eggs are getting cold, so... gotta go!"

He left. I smiled again and looked back at my computer monitor, clicking on my second e-mail. This one was from the college!

"From Neo-Paris, Neo-French District of Mars... New Parisian Liberty College, Department of Admissions!" I said excitedly. "This could be it! Edward's goin' to college to get lots and lots of knowledge!"

I clicked the e-mail. A nice-looking man with neat gray hair and a short, gray mustache appeared on my screen, wearing a neatly-pressed blue suit. He was sitting at a large desk in a fancy-looking office. 

"Miss Appledelhi, it is nice to finally be contacting you," said the man in the video e-mail. "Your test results have been astounding, and the work that you've completed in all of the SSSC (Solar System Scholastic Correspondence) courses has been superb. We believe that you would make a very fine student at our university."

My face lit up with glee. I knew it, I'd been waiting for this day! Finally a chance to study with some of the best scholars in the Solar System! I'd make some fun new friends, and-

"As with all of our promising applicants, we would like you to visit our fine university to take a tour and meet the department heads personally, as well as conduct a face-to-face interview with you," the man said. I calmed down a bit and stared at the screen. "Available dates are February 11, March 4, and March 18. We hope to meet you soon, and we also hope that you will be attending our university at the start of the 2076-2077 school year. Sincerely, Joliet Depardieu, Dean of Admissions at New Parisian Liberty College."

Well, it looks like I'd have to make a trip to Neo-Paris! I was very excited, since that was the place that my mother had apparently grown up. It was supposed to be a beautiful city... bright lights, splendid buildings...

"Edward is going to Paris!" I said, jumping up from the couch. I quickly finished off my pancakes and ran outside to tell Daddy the good news!

---

"So, let me get this straight. They want you to come to Neo-Paris and tour the campus, then talk to some high-up guys?"

I nodded.

"Isn't it great?" I told him. "Soon, Ed will be going to college!"

"Now hold on a minute," my dad said. "I mean, when's this thing gonna be?"

"Well, the closest date is the 11th, but there are two dates available next month too...." 

"If you wanna get in, you should probably go as soon as possible," my father said. "Which means you'd probably have to leave for Paris tomorrow."

"You mean Edward can go right now?" I said, my eyes growing wider.

"Well, yeah, but... I mean you'd need to pack your things pretty quick, and-"

"So Ed can go?" I asked eagerly. "Really really really?"

My father smiled. 

"Yes, Francoise, you can go," he said warmly. "You know how happy this would make your mother if she were still alive today?"

I nodded.

  
"She'd be so proud of you," he continued. "I can't fully appreciate all this college stuff, since I barely even finished high school, and now I'm just mapping out craters and stuff. I mean, I love my job, but... Francoise, when you graduate from that college, and I know you will, you'll be able to do anything you want. You're a brilliant girl, you know that?"

I nodded again.

"Oh... thank you, daddy!" I said happily, running up to him and giving him a giant hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise to make you and mommy proud!"

I rushed back into the trailer and dashed to my room. I quickly whipped out a suitcase, opened it up, and began scanning the room for things to take with me.

"Francoise," my dad yelled from the front of the trailer, "this time, for once, you should probably bring a few pairs of socks!"

"But I hate socks!" I protested. "They make me fall and slippy-trip!"

"Not if you're wearing shoes too," my dad replied. "I insist you wear socks to that college thing, or you'll look... well, you know.... kinda weird."

"But Edward doesn't have a pair to wear anyway!" I shouted. "And I don't want to wear your big stinky socks...."

"Promise me you'll buy a pair when you get to Neo-Paris...."

"Alright, Edward will," I yelled.

  
"Great!" my father said, exiting the trailer again. After he left, I began packing my first suitcase. I quickly filled it up with several articles of clothing, mostly t-shirts and shorts. I knew I'd have to find something that looked nice to wear to the interview, so fortunately I had several dresses and skirts, including a dress that Jet-person had me wear a long time ago, to help him catch a bountyhead. It was a pretty dress, and it still fit me, so it was the first thing I packed into my second suitcase. I walked into the bathroom and looked around.

"Gotta pack a toothbrush!" I said, holding up a small red one. I grabbed the tube of toothpaste sitting next to it. "Daddy never brushes his teeth anyway...."

After I had placed those in the suitcase, I walked out to the coffee table and sat down in front of my computer again. Before I packed it, I wanted to check and see when a flight to Paris would be departing.

"Let's see here, flights to Neo-Paris.... gotta check... okay, here we go! Spaceflight 5485, leaving from Suarez Interplanetary Spaceport in Suarez City... not too far, only 75 miles to the city... now let's see how much a ticket to Neo-Paris is.... aaah, noooo!"

"What is it, Francoise?" my dad asked, stepping into the trailer and sitting down next to me. "Looking up flight schedules, huh? Did you find a flight to Neo-Paris?"

"Yeah, but it's pretty expensive... a round-trip is 55,000 wulongs, and even a one-way trip is 27,500!"

"Yikes, I love my crater-mapping job, but my boss only pays me 24,000 a month... geez, I'm sorry, Francoise... maybe you could go to Neo-Paris next month! I could scrap up the money by then, I'm sure-"

"Wait a minute! Faye-Faye's got a ton of money!" I said, remembering Faye-Faye's earlier e-mail. "Of course! Faye-Faye!"

I didn't want to e-mail her, so I ran over to the videophone and dialed up the Bebop's number. Faye-Faye's face appeared on the screen.

"Hey, Edward, what's up?" Faye-Faye said, smiling. "Didja get my e-mail?"

"Ed sure did!" I said. "Congratulations, Faye-Faye!"

"Thanks!" Faye-Faye replied. "So, Ed, do ya need anything? I've got sixteen million wulongs!" 

"Edward sure does," I said. "The dean of admissions at New Parisian Liberty wants Edward to attend his college!" 

"Really?" Faye-Faye replied. "That's great! You know, I went to college... well, before my crash, anyway. I'm sure you'll love it!"

"Anyway, the dean said that he wants Ed to take a tour of the college, but the college is in Paris and Edward needs money for a shuttle ticket! And you've got tons of money, so... Edward humbly requests that you send her the 55,000 she needs! Pretty please?"

"You know, Ed, the Bebop could come and pick you up and take you to Neo-Paris...." Faye-Faye said.

"No, it can't," said Jet-person's voice from offscreen. "That bountyhead shot out our engine, remember? We'll be in repairs for two weeks. Oh, and tell Ed I said congratulations!"

"Well, I guess I'll just send you the money," Faye-Faye said. "55,000 coming up!"

"Thanks, Faye!" I said. "Edward will repay you-"

"No, you don't need to do that," Faye-Faye said. "You're a friend, Edward! Anyway, have fun in Neo-Paris! Maybe we'll come visit!"

"Sorry, Faye, we can't," Jet-person said. "Busted engine."

"Dammit, I know that!" Faye-Faye yelled. She turned back toward the screen. "We'll visit you when you're in college next year. Bye-bye, Ed!"

I flashed off the screen.

"Yaaaaaay!" I squealed, doing a cartwheel across the floor of the trailer. "Thank you, Faye-Faye!"

"That's great, Francoise," my dad said. "We'll drive to Suarez City first thing tomorrow morning, okay?"

I nodded.

"Daddy, I'll miss you..." I told him sadly.

"I know, I'll miss you too.... it really won't be the same without you here, you know that."

I nodded.

"But when you get back, we'll throw a big party, okay?" my dad said. "You, and me, and Macintyre, and-"

  
"Faye-Faye and Jet-person?" I asked.

"Sure, we'll have them over too. Well, it's about time for me to head out. Big meteor shower last night a few miles west of here... rumor is that a whole plateau's been flattened to the ground! I didn't hear anything, so I don't believe any of that crap, but I did see the meteor shower, so I'm headed over to meet Macintyre and check it out!"

"Hope you find something big!" I told him. "I know every time a meteor shower happens, it's really exciting for you!"

"It sure is, sweetie," my dad said. "Well, I'd better start driving. Congratulations, Francoise."

He leaned down and kissed me on the forehead, then walked outside and started up the pickup truck. As the trailer began to move, I smiled. 

"Well, it looks like Edward's finally going to be on her own again," I said to myself. "Neo-Paris is gonna be a lot different than Earth, though..."

I looked out the window and watched the desert scenery rush by. A new journey was just beginning for me... one that even my mind couldn't even begin to imagine.

---

And that's it for chapter one! Any comments, criticisms, whatever, please review! Because Radical Edward said so! ^_^


	2. Don't You Know That You Are A Shooting S...

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me. 

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

---

I smiled. In just a few days, I'd be going to Neo-Paris to start my new life! Well, I'd come back to Earth until the actual school year started, but...

"Wonder what's on TV," I said, leaning back on the couch and picking up the remote control that sat on the table in front of me. I pointed the remote at the TV and turned it on.

"Hello, all you space cowboys!" shouted a tall, blonde-haired man on the TV screen. "It's time for Bigshot with yours truly, Andy Oniyate!"

"And me, Tasha!" said a pretty young woman with long, black pigtails who was standing next to Andy. 

"Ed still wonders how Cowboy Andy-person got this job.... but Edward guesses he does seem like the kinda person that would want his face on TV all the time.... oh well, good for him!"

I had met Andy-person when I was still on the Bebop. I knew he liked Faye-Faye, but she hated him... I didn't figure out why until Bigshot came back on the air a year ago with Andy as one of the hosts.... he sure had a big ego!

"First of all, a Bigshot Cowboy Shout-Out goes to the lovely Faye Valentine and her partner, Jet Black for reeling in French Syndicate member Leo LeMez, one of the worst criminals in the Solar System and one of our biggest bounties ever at 16 million wulongs! Congratulations, my sweet...." 

"Hee, congratulations, Faye-Faye!" I said, giggling at Andy's shoutout. "Give up, ya silly cowboy!"

"While the second-in-command of the French Syndicate, also known as _Rose Du Diablé_, has been caught," Tasha said, "the leader, Cecelle Frémont, remains at large."

"He's a dangerous criminal, and the bounty on his head right now is a whopping 120 million wulongs!" Andy said excitedly. "I hope Faye gets him...."

"Or anyone else out there!" Tasha said, smiling. "Next, we have a-"

I switched off the TV. I wasn't a bounty hunter anymore anyway, I found Bigshot boring, and they rarely ever showed any cartoons!

"Maybe Ed should go out and help daddy," I said, noticing that he had stopped the truck. "Time to check out the flower power meteor shower!"

I ran to the door and opened it up, then stepped outside.

"Francoise!" my dad said, turning toward me. "Come check this out, it's incredible!"

"Okay, daddy, Edward is coming!" I said, running over to see what he was looking at. "Wow....."

Last night's meteor showed had made a big impact after all! The front half of a large plateau in front of us had been sheared off, and a large crater in its side marked the site of the impact. Several smaller craters surrounded us, including a fairly large one right in front of my feet. Most of the craters were still smoking. Guess I slept sounder than I had thought...

"I can't believe neither of us woke up...." I said to him.

"Well, this is certainly the best field of craters I've seen in a while!" my dad replied. "Wanna go down there and look for space rocks?"

"But it's still burning...what if it's still hot down there?" I asked him.  


"That's why I have... tongs!" he said, holding up the large pair of tongs that he used to retrieve meteorite fragments. "C'mon, you're not scared, are you?"

"I guess not...." I said, still with some trepidation. "But if Edward gets an owie...."

I took the tongs from my dad.

"You should probably put on your shoes first, Francoise...."

"You're right, I'd better!" I said, smiling. I ran back into the trailer. "Yoo-hoo, shoes, where are yoooooou.... oh yeah, Edward packed them in Edward's suitcase!"

I dashed into my room, gathered the shoes, quickly put them on, and ran back outside, tongs in hand. Slowly, I climbed down into the crater. I could feel the heat from under me, and I was careful not to let my hands touch the charred ground.

"Are you sure this is safe, daddy?" I asked him.

"I've done it tons of times, Francoise! I'd never let you get hurt, I promise!"

"Well, okay..."

I made my way to the bottom of the crater, about seven feet below the ground, and looked down.

"See anything?" my dad yelled from the top of the crater. I looked down, and low and behold, several small meteorite fragments were right near my feet. They were jet black, and they appeared to be very charred. They were still smoking, and they shined with a faint glow that the sunlight reflected off of them.

"Okay, Ed found a few!" I yelled up to him. "I'm gonna get 'em, okay?"

Slowly, I reached down with the tongs and picked up one of the space rocks, the largest one in the crater, and also, in my opinion, the prettiest.

"Ed has got it!" I said triumphantly, holding the fragment up in my tongs. "Ed will bring it to you, okay, daddy?"

Suddenly, my feet began to slip! I couldn't keep my footing, and I began to fall face-first to the ground of the crater. Stunned, I dropped the tongs and screamed.

"Daddy, help Edward!"

I closed my eyes, expecting a hard and painful landing on the burning ground. But the only thing I felt was my dad's strong hand around my ankle, lifting me off of the ground.

"Gotcha!" my dad shouted, leaning all the way over the crater and holding me up. "Don't worry, I've gotcha...."

Slowly, he began to pick himself up off of the ground. He gathered me into his arms and carefully maneuvered himself to the edge of the crater, finally managing to sit up by the edge while holding my slender body in his arms. He frowned sadly.

"Oh, Francoise..." he said, with a slight hint of regret in his voice, "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have let you go down there like that...."

"No, it's okay, daddy...." I reassured him. "I'm fine, you saved Edward! Thank you!"

I smiled up at him, and slowly, he began to smile as well.

"Maybe you should go inside, okay, Francoise?" he said, his tone returning to normal. "I'll stay out here and map these craters and bring in the space rocks. You just rest... you've got a big day tomorrow!"

He set me down, and I nodded and rose to my feet, walking back into the trailer as my dad began to work.

---

"Maybe I can find my mommy on this computer," I said to myself, typing rapidly on Tomato's keys. "New Parisian Liberty College Student Archives, let's go!"

I clicked on the icon that led to the archives. Maybe it would have some of my mother's records there!

"Class of 2059, let's see...." I said, looking at the options on the screen. "Class of 2063, 2062, 2061, 2060...."

And then, an area of text.

"Students that graduated before 2060 are not listed in these archives," I read. "Information on previous students may be looked up directly from the on-campus research area.... oh no!"

I growled at my computer.

"Dumb thing, making Edward go all the way to the college to find out about Edward's mommy!" I shouted. "Well, Edward _is _going there tomorrow.... Ed will look it up then!"

I closed my computer and picked it up, taking it to my bedroom and placing it inside my second suitcase. Then, I closed both suitcases and set them down by the door to my room.

"Well, everything's packed!" I said, smiling. "It's about time for lunch... Edward is getting hungry!"

The truck began to start up again. Dad must have gotten done with his crater mapping. I didn't understand why he loved his job so much... I knew it came with a sense of accomplishment, since he was helping Earth get back to some sort of civilization.... I remember a conversation I had with him about a year ago on the subject. We were both camping outside, under the stars, near the Cape of Good Hope in what was once South Africa.

---

"Daddy?" I asked him, holding a stick with three marshmallows on it over a small campfire. "Why don't they just send a satellite out to scan Earth and map it?"

"They don't care, Francoise," my dad said, a hint of anger in his voice. "Ever since the exodus to Mars, nobody gives a damn about Earth. They just leave us all out here. We're the forgotten ones, sweetie."

"But it would only take just one satellite!" I said. "How can they be such big meanie-weenies?"

"It's because they want us to die out," my dad replied. "That's why people like me are so important, because people like me, who help make the maps for the newly-reshaped Earth, are helping to bring back civilization! If we work hard, then maybe, in a few hundred years or so, when the space rocks stop falling, Earth will be the crown jewel of the Solar System again! Wouldn't that be great?"

"I guess so..." I said, looking down at the ground. "You do work hard, daddy, I know you do!"

"And guess what, Francoise?" my dad said to me. "I saw a TV show a few days ago. People on Mars think that their planet is invincible, but in a few million years, one of their moons is gonna come crashing down right on their pretty little terraformed heads!"

"Phobos," I replied. "15 miles in diameter."

"Bingo! It'll be worse than the Gate Disaster, because nobody's gonna survive," my dad said. "Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Mars!"

He began to chuckle. I smiled.

"I guess it's not the nicest thing to be happy about, but I'm glad you're happy, daddy," I told him.

---

After lunch, I put my plates in the sink to be washed later, and threw my paper cup in the garbage. Then, I went into my room, took off my shoes, and flopped down onto my bed. I yawned.

"Daddy will wake up Edward when it is time for dinner...." I said sleepily. "Nighty-night..."

---

Sure enough, the first thing I saw when I woke up was my dad's smiling face, hovering over me.

"Francoise, wake up! We're in Suarez City!" 

I rubbed my eyes.

"You sure about that?" I said, slowly sitting up. "Mmmm.... good nap-nap..."

"I figured that we could have supper somewhere nice here," he told me. "I sold those meteorite fragments, and they fetched a lot of money! Not enough to buy a shuttle ticket, but your friend Faye's got that covered, right?"

I nodded.

"So tonight we're gonna go out to eat. Is that okay?"

I nodded again.

"Great! Come on out in a few minutes, okay? And don't fall asleep again!"

He quietly walked out of the room. I slid out of bed, put on my shoes, and followed him out.

---

"So, your daughter's going to college in the big city, huh?" asked our waitress, a short, fairly chubby middle-aged woman. The restraurant my dad had chosen was a small cafe-like place, and the air smelled nice, uncommon for restaurants on Earth except in the larger settlements like Suarez City.

"That's right! My Francoise is going to the New Parisian Liberty Institute!" my dad said.

"It's college, not institute, daddy," I gently told him.

"Institute sounds nicer, dear," he replied.

"Well, that's wonderful!" the waitress said. "You know, I had a son that went to college on Europa. Really nice resort-like place, in the middle of a big forest. He studied art there, and he's got an expo going on in Neo-America on Mars!"

"That's really neat," my dad said. "Francoise, do you know what you're gonna study in college?"

I paused. I hadn't really thought about what I was going to study... just going there was exciting enough! I already knew a lot about computers and technology, but I wanted to go to college to gain more knowledge, not study something I already knew...

"Um... Edward doesn't know!" I stammered out. "Not yet, anyway..."

"Who's Edward?" the waitress asked quizzically. 

"Eh, just some imaginary friend of my daughter's or something," my dad said, still not completely understanding.... well, you know. "She means herself, really."

I nodded. Well, at least he had that part down right.

"I see," the waitress said. "Well, anyway, what'll you fine people be having tonight?"

My dad had just begun to open his mouth to say something when suddenly, a loud whooshing noise filled the air. In an instant, a huge explosion engulfed the back of the restaurant. My dad grabbed me and quickly pulled me to the ground as a large plume of debris rushed outward from the explosion. The waitress ducked to the ground next to us.

"What's going on?" I shouted, but I pretty much knew what had happened.

"That's the second time this year!" the waitress screamed. "Damned meteors!"

"Well, that's one thing you can't control!" my dad shouted as the dust began to settle. "Francoise, let's get the hell outta here... sorry about that, we can go somewhere else to eat, okay?"

My dad grabbed my arm and quickly ran from the restaurant, several others following behind us.

"The meteor hit the kitchen... fortunately there weren't too many people back there tonight," the waitress said. "Our chef and a couple others, I think..."

Screams and moans of pain began to permeate the air.

  
"Daddy, there's people back there!" I shouted. "They're in trouble..."

My dad quickly pulled a 5,000-wulong bill from his pocket and handed it to me.

"Here, take this money and go to the restaurant next door," my dad instructed. "There's already some other people coming to help, so I'm going in there and seeing if we can't save some of these people. I promise to be careful, okay?"

He kissed me on the forehead and ran into the smoldering restaurant before I could even say a word.

  
"Be careful, daddy..." I said quietly before going into the restaurant next door.

---

All through my meal, I had worried about my dad. I'd never actually seen him go into a building that had been hit by a meteor like that! I knew he'd done it before though, because he told me. A widely accepted law of the time was that any able-bodied adult male who could assist in freeing survivors from the rubble of any building struck by a meteorite had to go in and help... most people would have done it voluntarily, though.

"Sweetie, are you okay?" asked the blonde waitress, a much younger and prettier woman than the one in the other restaurant. "You look kinda worried..."

"My dad went in to help some of the people in the restaurant next door that got hit by a meteor," I told her, poking at my remaining food with my fork. "So yes, Edward is worried."

"Yes, we heard the big boom," the waitress said, not asking me who Edward was. "It shattered our windows, see?"

She pointed to the window on the far wall, which had been completely shattered by the shockwave caused by the small meteorite. The glass had been swept from the floor. 

"I'm sure he'll be okay.... I'll pray for him, alright?" the waitress said. I nodded.

"Francoise, I'm here!" yelled my father from the doorway. His shirt and pants were ragged and dirty, but I didn't really notice. I got up from the table, ran over to him, and embraced him tightly. "Ah, you're happy to see me!"

"I'm so glad you're okay, daddy!" I said ecstatically. 

"I'm glad you're okay too, dear," he told me. "We pulled six people out of the rubble... they were all alive! One of them was a pretty girl... not as pretty as you, of course."

  
He smiled warmly. I returned the smile and hugged him again.

"You'd better get back to your food before it gets cold," he told me.

  
"Don't you want to stay and eat supper with Edward, daddy?" I asked him.

"No, no, I'm okay," he said. "I had a big breakfast this morning. You just go on and eat, okay?"

We walked over and sat down at the table. The waitress smiled and asked daddy if he was sure he didn't want anything to eat.

"Well, I guess I'll take some dessert," my dad said. "You got pie?"

"Sure, we have cherry pie, peach pie, blueberry pie, lemon pie, chocolate-"

"Got any egg pie?" he asked the waitress. She gave him a surprised look.

  
"Daddy?" I said, also rather puzzled.

"Heh, just kidding!" he said. "I'll take some apple pie."

"Chocolate for Edward!" I said, smiling. The waitress nodded and walked away.

---

After our dessert, we left the restaurant. I rode with daddy in the cab of the truck while he drove into the large parking lot of the spaceport. 

"We'll camp out here tonight," my dad said. "I'll just sleep in the truck... you'll sleep in your room, okay?"

"Daddy, I was thinking...." I said softly. "Maybe we could sleep on top of the trailer tonight, under the stars!"

"On... top of the trailer?" he asked me. "But it's cold, and hard, and we could fall off...."

"We've got sleeping bags, daddy!" I said. "I could go in and get them!"

"Well, alright.... I'll see you up there, okay?" 

I went inside the trailer and fetched the two sleeping bags, then put on a blue pajama top and blue pajama pants. I went back outside and climbed up on the top of the trailer, where dad had already climbed. I stretched out the sleeping bags, and we had plenty of room to lie on top of the trailer, as it was fairly wide. Then, I took off my shoes and slipped into my sleeping bag. He slipped into the other sleeping bag, still wearing all of his close. The bright lights from the spaceport dimmed most of the stars, but we could still see many of them in the sky, as well as a beautiful display of meteors.

"Good night, daddy," I whispered, looking over at him. "I'll miss you, you know that...."

"I'll miss you too," he said. "Good night, Edward."

He smiled and slowly closed his eyes. Did he just... call me Edward? He'd never done that before... it was at that moment that I knew he'd miss me. I would miss him too....

"Thanks, daddy...." I whispered. Dwelling on my thoughts no longer, I closed my eyes and slowly slipped into a serene slumber. _I would miss him most of all..._

---

And that's it for this chapter! Please review people, I only have 3 and I'm a bit disappointed! Well, until next time, bye!


	3. Planet Earth Is Blue, And There's Nothin...

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me. 

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

Reviews: (where I'll take time to address and thank the reviewers! ^_^)

Xavior Nightshadow: Number one fan, huh? Thanks! Yeah, like I said, I wanted to make Ed grow up a bit for this fic, so that's what I basically did. Glad you like it!

Jim Hawking Jr.: Thank you! And yes, it will be a great story, I promise!

Chloe-the-4leaf-clover: Yeah, I put in Andy kinda as a shout-out to his fans, of which I'm one of them! And it did make sense, trust me... glad you think it's realistic!

NessacusGirl: Thank you thank you as always! ^_^ Glad you liked it so much, you're a big reason I'm writing it! And yes, Ed will get tons and tons of new friends in Paris! She's very friendly so of course she'll have friends! Anyway, thank you! *huggles*

Kur0nek0sama: B-b-b-brilliant? Me? Um... thank you! And like I said, aging Ed properly was one of my main goals! Glad you think I did well!

Katers: Yay! You reviewed! Thank you! Yep, I'm finally back to the Bebop section! I'm glad you like it, especially the happy mood! It won't be happy for every single part though, there'll be some drama in it, but it'll stay mostly happy! Thanks for being one of my nicest friends!

Pspinler: There was no way I was gonna have Spike surviving... this fic's all about Ed anyway! ^_^ And the head of the syndicate is actually a new character, the head of the _French _syndicate, different from Spike's. (But still evil nonetheless!) Ed's father is going through some internal conflicts, he loves Ed and doesn't want to neglect her like he used to, but he wants her to be strong like him... and with the crater thing, he just wanted Ed to do something exciting. And yes, it was intentional... Ed still speaks mostly in third-person, but she's gradually easing into speaking regularly, since she's getting older and more mature, and she'll have to speak normally in college anyway. ^_^ In fact, as the story goes on she'll probably speak more and more in the first-person... and now I must stop talking before I spoil too much of the story. Thanks for reviewing though!

Afgncaap5: Thanks for the review! Hope you enjoy this chapter, as well as the rest of the story!

---

"Francoise, wake up... it's your big day, remember?"

I opened my eyes and sat up... dad was calling me Francoise again. Ah well!

"Morning already, Daddy?" I asked him. My dad was sitting at the foot of my sleeping bag, smiling warmly at me.

"It's 7:30 right now... first shuttle to Neo-Paris leaves at noon. I'd say that with security check-ins and everything, you should probably get to the spaceport about ten so you don't miss your flight," he said.

"I see..." 

I flopped back down onto my pillow. I still had two and a half hours... and I was still tired.

"Francoise, you should probably get up... I'm making a big breakfast for you!" he said. I sat up.

"Big... breakfast for Edward?" I replied, blinking my eyes. He nodded, and I quickly crawled out of my sleeping bag. "How big?"

"Well, come see!" he said eagerly. "C'mon!"

I quickly followed my dad as he slid off the edge of the trailer onto the hood of the truck, then leaped off. I did the same, and began to look around. 

"It's inside the trailer," he said, pointing to the door. "I just finished making it, so it'll be piping hot!"

Grinning, I ran inside the trailer and gasped.

"Oh my goodness.... look at all of this food!" I exclaimed. There, all laid out before me on the small table next to the couch, was a heaping plate of pancakes dripping with butter and syrup, a large plate of sausages and bacon, and a large, steaming bowl of scrambled eggs. Next to all of the food was a pitcher filled with orange juice, and a tall glass to pour it in. 

"Like it?" he asked me.

"Like it? Ed loves it!" I shouted jubilantly, running to the table and picking up a fork. I dove into the food, eating the pancakes first, since they were my favorite. Daddy really hadn't always been a good cook... when I moved in full-time with him it took him a while to get the hang of cooking, but he became rather skilled at it, and we split the cooking duties. I will say that the breakfast he'd prepared for me that morning was easily the best I'd ever had!

"Glad you enjoy it, sweetie..." he said.

Briefly stopping my feeding frenzy, I turned my head toward daddy.

"Daddy... you really didn't have to do this," I said sweetly. "I mean... Edward loves this food, but-"

"Francoise, it's your last meal here for a while, right? So I wanted to make it a really, really good one... I got up at four in the morning and walked out to the nearest store, then-"

"It's okay, daddy!" I said, giggling slightly. "Thank you, really... you DID get something for yourself though, right?"

A look of surprise crossed his face, and I immediately knew that he hadn't.

"Uh, actually...."

"You can have some of Edward's food, okay?" I said, offering some of my breakfast to him. "Edward is getting kinda full anyway..."

"No, no, that's fine," my dad said. "It's all for you, okay? I'll just whip up some leftovers for breakfast or something-"

"No, no, that will not do!" I said, smiling. "Take Edward's food, take it, okay?"

He smiled back.

  
"Well... I guess all that cooking made me hungry..." he said, pulling up a small chair and sitting across from me at the table. "Thanks, Francoise."

"Don't mention it!" I said. "Now let's eat!"

---

We quickly finished off the remainder of the breakfast. I wanted to help daddy with the dishes, but he insisted that I go and rest. I went to my room and looked in my closet for a suitable outfit for my journey.

"What to wear, what to wear...."

Opening my closet, I quickly picked out a cute looking dark blue turtleneck and a light blue pair of denim jeans. I took off my pajamas from last night and put the turtleneck and the jeans on, then put on a pair of shoes. Then, I picked up my suitcases and walked back out into the kitchen, where my dad was still busy with the dishes.

"You know, Francoise..." he said, "you wore blue pajamas last night, and you're wearing blue clothes now. You're not sending some kinda subliminal messages to me, are you?"

"Daddy, you know I'll miss you..." I told him. "Maybe Edward is feeling a bit blue...."

Was I feeling blue? It was pretty rare for me to feel sad, I was usually happy... I was angry more often than I was sad, actually, and I hardly ever get angry at all! I really was going to miss daddy, though...

"Well, you know you'll be able to call here anytime you want," he said reassuringly. "I'll take the videophone with me everywhere I go!"

"You won't be able to plug it into the truck, daddy..." I reminded him, frowning slightly.

"I'll get a cellular videophone then!" he said. "Those are-"

"A lot of money," I told him again. My frown turned into a smile. "Don't worry about it! We'll be able to talk with each other a bunch!"

"You're right," my dad told me. "Every single day, Francoise, I promise!"

"Yaaaaay!" I exclaimed, clapping my hands together. "You know something... Edward doesn't feel blue anymore! Edward is happy!"

Daddy smiled. I think we were both feeling blue there for a while....

---

"Remember, every single day-day, okay?" I said to my dad as we stood outside the entrance to the spaceport.

"I'll call every day, I promise!" my dad replied. "I know you'll get into that college, Francoise!"

"Edward will call you as soon as she finishes her interview!" I promised. "Bye, daddy!"

"Bye...."

And then, his expression softened. His eyes began to water slightly... and so did mine. We both knew this would happen... my dad didn't care though, and even though I'd never seen him cry, he didn't look like he minded me seeing him now. He brushed a tear from my cheek.

"You know I'm gonna miss you... Edward," he said, calling me Edward for only the second time since... well, since ever. "Have a good time for me, okay? I'll miss you so much..."

"I'll miss you too, daddy..." I said, embracing him. Then, I sniffled. "I'll be back soon..."

The embrace ended, and he slowly began to walk away.

"Goodbye, Edward.... take care...." he said. He slowly got into his truck, then drove away as I waved to him. 

I hadn't seen a single tear fall down his face, but I knew he felt like crying... we'd probably see each other again in six, maybe seven days... but I really, really didn't want to leave my dad... and yet, I felt something... something strange, and yet familiar. For the first time in nearly four years, I was truly on my own....

---

Brushing away the last of my tears, I ventured into the spaceport. It was bustling with activity, mostly outgoing tourists from Earth, but a few from other planets and satellites, most of them crater-hunting thrill seekers looking to spot a meteor shower. And of course, there were always bounty hunters, looking to make their fortunes catching fugitives who were hiding out on Earth's desolate surface.

"Whoa..." I said, looking around in bewilderment while holding my two suitcases, one in each hand. "This place is really busy..."

The first place I stopped was the cash machine, a small electronic kiosk placed against the wall near the entrance. Several of them were lined up in a row, and people would walk up to them and quickly deposit or withdraw their cash. I walked up to a kiosk, set down my suitcases, and pulled my money card from my pocket. I knew my dad had put 10,000 wulongs on the card for food and other amenities... I had looked up the college's website again and learned that they had a temporary dormitory reserved for touring students, so I knew where I'd stay. I swiped the card through the machine and gazed at the display.

"Lessee, I have... 1,013,776 wulongs?" I gasped in disbelief, staring at the machine in shock. I only expected to have the 65,000 wulongs from Faye-Faye and my dad, and then a few more that I already had on the card. "And a message from Faye-Faye..."

I tapped the touch-screen to activate the message. A small window popped up on the screen with Faye-Faye's face on it. She began speaking.

"Ed, I was going to send you 55,000 for the ticket, but then I realized that your dad... I mean, he loves you and all, but he's poor and he wouldn't be able to give you much money. And you're going to Paris! I mean, the bright lights, the fine cuisine, the sexy French men... um, well, if you're into that.... anyway, I sent you a million wulongs! I've got plenty, so... don't even think about paying me back, I won't take it, it's all yours, Edward! Congratulations!"

The window disappeared. I smiled.

"Thank you, Faye-Faye..." 

Taking my card from the machine, I picked up my two suitcases and headed over to the security checkpoint. I put my card back in my pocket and smiled at the security official.

  
"Well, hello there, little lady!" he said in a friendly tone. "We need to check your bags, so just set them down on the conveyor belt and walk this way, please!"

"Okey dokey mokey pokey!" I said, smiling sweetly at him. I'd definitely have to stop talking like that during the interview with New Parisian Liberty's dean of admissions, but for now, I could just be myself. I walked through the metal detector, which remained silent as I passed through and walked to the end of the conveyor belt. After my bags were scanned, I picked them up and walked over to another smiling security official. This time, it was a young woman.

"Please place your bags on the table for a standard manual security inspection!" she said in a kind tone. I placed my two suitcases on the table. "Now just head to the waiting room and you can pick up your luggage in about fifteen minutes."

---

An hour later, I was still in the waiting room.

"What's going on?" I said to myself. "What could be taking them so long to check Edward's suitcases?"

I hadn't packed anything that could be considered contraband... no weapons, no drugs... only some clothes, a toothbrush, some other little trinkets, and my Tomato...

"Uh oh... Tomato!"

What if they'd found the hacking files? I'd never been caught hacking before... I knew it was a crime, but I'd never hurt anyone...

"Tomato?" asked a small boy sitting in the chair next to me, evidently having overheard me before. "You like tomatoes?"

Just then, the door opened. Two gruff-looking male security officials appeared at the door.

"Miss Appledelhi," said one of them sternly, "you should come with us."

"Is there something wrong?" I asked meekly, standing up. _"Uh oh... Edward is in big trouble now..."_

"Just a couple of questions," the other official said. "Then you'll probably be on your way."

I was slightly relieved, but I knew that a 'couple of questions' could easily turn into a long, exhausting inquisition... I had less than an hour until my shuttle left! I could miss my flight! I followed the officials down several narrow hallways into a small, secluded room. Then I started worrying again... these were two guys, and I was just a young, 17-year-old girl... I knew I'd be ready to defend myself, though. My dad had taught me most of his moves... if these two guys tried anything, they'd have to deal with Radical Edward!

"Right in there, ma'am," the first official directed. 

I walked into the room, and the door was closed behind me, the officials staying outside. Well, at least I wouldn't have to worry about them... The room was dark, lit only by the dim glow of a hanging light, which shone a dim glow on the large, brown table under it. The only two people in the room besides me were a brown-haired woman who looked to be about in her thirties, sitting behind the only table in the room and wearing a neatly-pressed blue trenchcoat. A tall, white-haired man who appeared twice her age was standing next to her, wearing a gray trenchcoat. They directed me to sit at the table, across from them. I did as I was told, and noticed a familiar object on the table... my computer.... my Tomato. My heart began pounding.

"Francoise Appledelhi... is that correct?" the woman said, asking my name. I nodded. "Alright then, let's make this quick."

The elderly man walked around the table and stood behind my chair. I began to sweat nervously as he pointed at my computer.

"Open it up," the man ordered. I opened my computer and noticed that it had been turned on. "We've detected the presence of several... programs on your computer, Miss Appledelhi."

  
"The hacking programs," I told him. I wanted to be completely honest with both of these people as much as possible... maybe if I told them everything, they'd let me off easy... oh, I couldn't go to jail! I'd never get to go to college... and dad would be so disappointed with me...

"Yes, those," the woman said. "They're quite advanced, you know. A few clicks and you'd be able to take down a whole infrastructure."

"Edward would never do that..." I said, immediately realizing that I should've probably referred to myself as Edward in the presence of these officials.... _"These people won't put up with my usual self..."_

"Edward?" the man asked. "Who's that?"

"You see, Edward is-"

"You mean Radical Edward?" the woman asked, cutting me off. "The legendary hacker, Radical Edward?"

__

"Oh my gosh, they think Edward is referring to someone else!" I thought happily, immediately formulating a story for these two officials. Honesty was officially out. _"This is Edward's big chance!"_

I nodded.

"Edward is.... my boyfriend," I told the woman. "I was taking this computer back to him, and-"

"So you _know _Radical Edward?" the old man asked me. "Then you could be of use to us."

"Please don't arrest me!" I pleaded. "I could take you to Radical Edward!"

"Guess you're pretty eager to make a deal then," the woman said sternly. "If you take us to Radical Edward so we can arrest him, you'll be relieved of all charges."

"Really?" I said happily. "All of them?"

"That's right," the woman said. "Which are.... um..."

"Aiding and abetting a known fugitive by knowingly delivering an illegal piece of contraband, punishable by up to 30 days in prison and a fine of up to 350,000 wulongs," the man said.

__

"Well, that was easier than Edward thought it would be... wait a minute, when Ed takes these swoooookie police people to wherever Edward takes them and they realize that there is no Radical Edward, then Edward will be in big trouble...."

There was no other option... I'd have to make a run for it. I didn't want to, but-

"Look over there, it's a criminal!" I shouted, pointing to the corner of the room. They briefly glanced toward the corner, and I quickly grabbed Tomato and make a break for it. By the time they realized they'd been duped, which was only a second (they were pretty smart detective-persons), I was running out the door. They quickly gave chase, following me down the narrow hallways through which I'd came before and dashing after me as I ran out into a crowded lobby.

"Where'd she go?" the woman asked.

  
"Dammit, we're gonna lose her!" the man shouted. I quickly dashed inside a small room and slammed the door, locking it behind me. There, on a small table, I found my two suitcases, lying open. All of my stuff was still there, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Whew..." I said, placing my computer into one of the suitcases and closing them both. "That was a very very close one for Edward..."

Picking up my suitcases, I carefully gazed out into the lobby. The two officials were nowhere to be found. I casually strolled out into the lobby and merged with a large group, being careful that there was no way they could find me, even if they were still around looking for me.

"Attention, attention, Spaceflight 5485 to Neo-Paris will be departing from Gate 29 in 15 minutes," said a female voice over the PA system. "Repeat, Spaceflight 5485..."

__

"My flight's leaving!" I thought to myself. "Hurry time now!"

I dashed out of the crowd and ran toward the departure gates, my suitcases in hand.

"Twenty-four, Twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight... Gate 29, there it is!"

I dashed through the gate. There, I saw it... the shuttle that would carry me out to the stars once more... and to Neo-Paris. The shuttle was a large vehicle that strongly resembled the large jet planes which dad had shown me on Earth, saying that they used to carry people around in the 20th Century. The main difference was the large rocket boosters in the back of the shuttle, as opposed to the engines on the jets. I walked up to the shuttle's entrance and was greeted by a friendly-looking female flight attendant.

"Hello, and thank you for flying Terra Shuttles today!" the woman said. "Please present your ticket."

I gasped. In all the turmoil from the chase, I'd completely forgotten to buy my ticket! 

"Um.... you see..." 

"You do have a ticket, right?" the woman asked.

"I sort of.... forgot to buy one," I admitted. 

"I see," the woman said, frowning. "Well, you know the rules. No ticket, no-"

"We've got an extra ticket!" said a woman behind me. I turned around to see a well-dressed middle-aged woman standing behind me, holding up a ticket. Standing next to her, holding her hand, was the small boy who had sat next to me in the waiting room. "My husband couldn't come, so we've got an extra ticket..."

"It's the tomato girl!" the boy said, smiling and waving up at me. "Hi! Hi, tomato girl!"

I smiled back at him.

"Tomato girl?" the woman asked. "Well, anyway, you've got enough money, right? It's a first-class round-trip ticket, I'll sell it to you for the same price I got it for. 120,000 wulongs, is that okay?"

I nodded and took out my card. She pulled out a small device, and I entered 120,000 wulongs into the device's small keypad, then swiped my card, transferring 120,000 wulongs over to her account. Then, she handed me the ticket.

  
"Thank you," I told the woman.

"You're welcome, young lady," the woman replied. "You seem like a sweet girl!"

"Tomato girl! Tomato girl!" the boy said, jumping up and down. The woman and her child boarded the plane. I handed the flight attendant my ticket and did the same, stepping on board the shuttle.

__

"If Faye-Faye hadn't given Edward that extra money, Edward wouldn't have had enough to buy that lady's ticket!" I thought to myself. This day was turning out to be one narrowly averted disaster after another... I hoped Neo-Paris wouldn't be like that...

---

After taking my seat in the richly decorated first-class area, I leaned back in my seat and looked up at the ceiling. The woman who had given me her ticket, and her child were seated next to me in the row of three seats. 

"So, why are you going to Neo-Paris?" the woman asked.

"Well, Edward is.... _I _am going to Neo-Paris to interview for admission into New Parisian Liberty College," I said, stopping myself from referring to... myself as Edward. I guess I was gradually going to start phasing out my Ed-speak to prepare for my interview... well, for a little while, anyway.

"NPLC?" the woman said. "That's the finest college in the city, you know."

"Well, I really hope I get in!" I told her eagerly. "That's where my mother went to college...."

"It's where my husband went," the woman said. "We live in Neo-Paris. My husband had to run a few errands back on Earth, so he'll catch another flight."

"I see...."

__

"All passengers, this is your captain speaking. We'll be taking off in just a few minutes, so put your seatbelts on and get ready for takeoff."

I sat back up in my chair and put on my seatbelt, making sure that it was tight. 

"This your first time in space?" the woman asked. 

"Oh, no, no, no," I told her. "I've been to space lots of times... I've actually lived in space!"

"Really?" the woman asked, becoming more interested in what I was saying. "Did you enjoy it?"

"Sure, Edward loves space!" I said, smiling. Oops. Guess old habits die hard... but I really didn't want any of these old habits to die. Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivuruski the 4th was a part of me...

"Edward?" the woman said incredulously. "Who's Edward?"  


"Tomato girl! Tomato girl!" the boy chanted, clapping his hands and smiling. I smiled back at him. Edward wasn't just a part of me... she was me. 

"Edward is.... Edward," I told her. "Edward is me!"

"Oh," the woman replied, smiling again. "That's your name?"

I nodded. Just then, the shuttle's thrusters began to fire up.

"Woooooo!" the boy shouted. "Blast off time!"

"I always thought Lukey would be scared of blastoffs, but he loves them," the woman said, smiling. "He's a lot less nervous than I am...."

The boy continued to clap his hands as our shuttle lifted off into space. I gazed out my window and saw the Earth growing smaller and smaller as we left the surface and journeyed into space.

__

"Passengers, it's the captain again. We've just lifted off, and we should be reaching the gate in about forty-five minutes, at which time after we pass through the gate we should reach Neo-Paris in twenty minutes, giving you a total flight time of just over an hour. We hope you enjoy your flight today, and thank you for flying with Terra Shuttles."

So that was it... in a little more than an hour, I'd be in Neo-Paris. I'd have four days to hang around the city before my interview and tour at the college, and I wondered how I'd pass those four days. I had plenty of money thanks to Faye-Faye, so I could pretty much do anything I wanted... it looked like the sky, and the stars would be the limit. I'd find something to do.

---

Well, that's it for chapter 3! I think it's the single best chapter I've ever written of anything before... what did you guys think? Please review!


	4. Hello, I Love You, Won't You Tell Me You...

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me. 

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few (non-generic) French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

Reviews: (I'll do a review column every three chapters, which means that the next one's coming up on Chapter 6. ^_^)

---

__

"Passengers, this is your captain speaking. We are approaching the Neo-Parisian Interplanetary Spaceport at this time, so please buckle your seatbels. We are expecting a smooth landing, and we hope that you've enjoyed your trip on Terra Shuttles. Have a nice day."

After a calm flight, we were finally arriving in Neo-Paris. My excitement had been mounting with every passing minute, and now I was only moments away from the city.... I could barely wait!

"Well, we're almost here!" said the woman sitting next to me. "Good luck at your college interview."

I nodded.

  
"Thank you, ma'am..." I told her kindly. "I'm actually kinda nervous..."

"Well, I'm sure you'll do just fine, Edward," the woman said. "That is your name, right?"  


"That's right, Edward's name is Edward!" I said, smiling at her. Suddenly, a small beeping sound began to go off in the shuttle as we approached the runway. The landing gear began to deploy.

__

"This is it, Edward..." I thought to myself. _"Just a little while now..."_

The shuttle floated over the large runway as its CLP (Computerized Landing Protocol) program began to take effect. It touched down gently and glided, slowing down before coming to a stop. 

"We're here!" I yelled out, barely able to contain my excitement. I unbuckled by seatbelt and stood up in front of my seat.

"My my, aren't we jumpy today," the woman said. 

"Tomato girl is happy!" her son cried out, also jumping up from his seat and smiling up at me. "Yay!"

I grinned at him. 

__

"He's just like me..." I thought. _"I wonder how long he'll stay like that, though? I've been that way for the last 15 years...."_

"Passengers, we've just landed in Neo-Paris, so we'll begin unboarding now. You may now exit the shuttle. Once again, thank you for flying with Terra Shuttles."

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," the woman said, standing up next to me. "Hope you have a wonderful time in Neo-Paris!"

"You too," I told her. "Thanks for selling me that ticket earlier!"

"Tomato girl!" the boy said again, waving at me. "Bye bye!"

The woman and her son joined the large crowd exiting the shuttle, while I stayed behind to collect my two suitcases, which I had placed in the overhead compartment above my seat. After I'd grabbed my suitcases, I walked into the aisle and exited the shuttle, stepping out the door and looking up at the bright, blue sky.

"Edward... is... in Paris!" I shouted. "Woooooo!"

Ignoring the many stares which I received from the people exiting the shuttle in front of me, I walked down the steps leading down to the runway and skipped to the main facility of the spaceport.

---

Neo-Paris' spaceport was a lot bigger than the one back in Suarez City, but I was quickly able to navigate through it and find a large neon sign that read "Lé Golden Taxi- Neo Paris' Number One Taxi Service". I ran over to the sign and saw a nice-looking young man sitting behind a small desk. 

"Hello?" I said, trying to get his attention. "Yoo-hoo, taxi-person?"

He turned and looked up at me.

"Well, bonjour, madmoiselle!" he greeted me in a slightly heavy French accent. "You are in need of a taxi into ze city?"

I nodded. After the Gate Disaster and subsequent mass migration to Mars, English became the dominant language of the new society, being used almost everywhere in public places. However, many of the major languages still lived on in private conversations and publication, and the different regions of Mars had their ancestral languages as secondary official languages, alongside English. My mother, being French herself, had taught me quite a bit of the language, so I could speak French fluently if I needed to.

"Could you please get Edward a taxi that will drop Edward off near the New Parisian Liberty campus?" I asked him. "Pleeeeeease?"

"But of course, that is one of our most popular destinations!" he said. "Many tourists like to tour ze campus because of its beautiful architecture and huge library!"

"Edward is not a tourist..." I told him, with a large grin on my face. "Edward is going to be attending school there next year!"

"Ah, I see!" the man said. "Well zen, good luck getting in! Only 5% of applicants are selected to attend ze university!"

"I know....." I told him. "But I just have to get in! I know I will!"

The man typed on his computer for a few seconds, then turned back to me.

"Your taxi is waiting just outside in ze parking lot!" he told me. "Zat will be 1800 wulongs, please!"

I handed the man my cash card. He swiped it through his console, deducting 1800 wulongs, and then returned it to me.

"Zere you are, madmoiselle!" he said. "Enjoy your taxi!"

"Merci beaucoup!" I said graciously. 

I ran toward the nearby exit, and quickly made it out to the parking lot, where a hovertaxi was waiting, floating slightly off the ground. I climbed inside, and the driver quickly sped off, toward the campus of New Parisian Liberty. As the taxi drove toward the campus, it passed by some of the most beautiful landmarks of the city, and I took the time to gaze at them all.

"Wow..." I said in amazement.

  
"Neo-Paris is really beautiful, isn't it?" said the female driver of the taxi. I nodded and continued to view the amazing sights. Large, modern skyscrapers pierced upward into the sky. Beautiful cathedrals were everywhere, with their steeples and stained-glass windows beckoning a closer look. One of the cathedrals was a perfect recreation of Notre Dame, which had been ravaged by meteorites in the old Paris back on Earth (my father and I drove right past it). 

"Since it's the afternoon, most of the lights are off," the driver said matter-of-factly, her French accent a bit less prominent then the taxi-person's had been. "But in the nighttime when the lights are on, Neo-Paris truly is at its most beautiful!"

Fountains rose up all over the city, with beautiful glass and marble designs, spraying water into beautiful reflecting pools. The Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triumph had also been recreated splendidly, with the Eiffel Tower nearly five times bigger than it was back on Earth, rising nearly a mile into the sky.

  
"That's tall...." I said, looking at the Neo-Eiffel Tower as we drove past it. "Edward can barely see any of it..."

The taxi continued to drive through the city before finally leaving the large highway it was on and zooming down a side road through a beautiful grove of trees and buildings. Finally, I could spot what I knew immediately to be the campus, a huge complex of many buildings, as well as gardens, small pools, and beautiful statues. The campus was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen... to think that in a short while, I might be living there for the next several years!

"Awesome!" I shouted upon seeing the beautiful campus for the first time. The driver turned her head around and smiled at me.

"You like it, hmm?" she asked. 

"Edward does, Edward likes it very very much!" I said, rapidly nodding my head.

  
"Who is this Edward, anyway?" the woman asked. "Oh, it's probably none of my business. Well, this is our stop!"  


The driver had stopped the taxi right in front of a large gate, which in turn was in front of a large, beautifully decorated administration building. A small building was next to the gate, where an attendant pressed buttons to make the gate open and close.

"Now, you're one of the applicants, right?" the driver asked. "The people being given the tour are going to be housed in Dejoule Hall, I think. It's near the administration building, not too hard to find."

"Okay! Thank you, ma'am!" I told the driver before exiting the taxi with my two suitcases. As she drove away, I immediately began looking around. "This place is cool..."

I walked over to the building next to the gate and waved to the security guard.

"And who might you be, madmoiselle?" the guard asked, smiling at me.

"I'm here for the admissions interviews and the tour of the college!" I replied. "My name is Francoise Appledelhi!"

"Ah yes, I see your name on the list!" the security guard told me. "You're the first one here, you know the tour and the interview won't be for four days, right?"  


"Well, I'm a real eager beaver!" I told him. He chuckled.

"I see," the guard replied. "Well, anyway, you should probably check in at the administration building, okay? I'll open the gate. Oh, and here's the key to your dorm room where you'll be staying! Room 210!"

The guard handed me the key. Then he pressed a button, and the large gate to the campus slowly opened. I thanked the guard, and then ran inside the campus. It wasn't quite as busy as I thought it would be, as only a few people were walking around. Most of the activity was probably in the other parts of the campus, though.

"Okey dokey, let's get started!" I said. "First, before Edward checks in, Edward will find Dejoule Hall, where Edward will be staying!"

I didn't have to look very far. It was near the administration building, off the main path by a small, paved road that led to a clean, white building that was about two stories tall. 

"Guess I'd better put up my suitcases...."

I walked into the building and quickly found my way to my dorm, using my key to get inside. I looked around and smiled.

"Wow, this is great!" I exclaimed. The room had a flat-screen TV on the wall, facing a large, comfortable-looking bed with a small desk next to it. "They gave Edward all the comforts of home!" 

I set my suitcases down by the bed and turned on the light. 

"Glad you like it, loser!" yelled a female voice from outside. I turned toward the door to see a young woman, apparently a student at the university, standing outside. "Yeah, I'm talking to you. Room stealing loser."

She walked away.

__

"I wonder what that was for...?" I thought, slightly hurt. _"Edward won't worry about it..."_

Still a bit bewildered, I left the dorm, then returned to the administration building to check in.

---

The administration building, a large, brick and marble structure decorated with many small statues perched on its sides, might have looked large on the outside, but once I entered, it seemed even larger on the inside. The lobby was huge, and I could look up and see the top of the building, a ceiling beautifully decorated with a large mural that portrayed hundreds of angels. Doors, halls, and stairways were everywhere, and there were many people, most of them students, milling about. Fortunately, a map of the building was posted in the lobby, right next to the door. I walked over to the map and looked at it.

"Where does Edward check in.... hmm, nobody told Edward..." I said, tracing my finger along the map. "Um... Admissions Services? I think this is the one! Third floor, room 317.... got it!"

I walked up two flights of stairs and turned right down a wide hallway that led to room 317. Finding the room, which had a sign near the door that read "Admissions Services" in both English and French, I walked inside.

"Have a seat," directed an elderly woman sitting behind a desk in the room's neatly decorated office. "Someone will see you shortly."

  
"Um, I'm Francoise Appledelhi... I'm here to check in as an applicant," I told the secretary. 

"I told you, someone will see you shortly," the woman said sternly, a French accent absent from her voice. I felt a bit angered by her rudeness, but I did as I was told, sitting down in a large chair by the door.

__

"You didn't have to be so mean to Edward," I thought, hoping that the person that I was going to see shortly would be nicer than this lady was. After waiting a couple of minutes, a man entered the room through the same door I had came through. I recognized the man immediately. "Mr. Depardieu?"

The man, whom was the same man that I'd seen in my e-mail from the college, smiled.

"You must be Francoise Appledelhi!" the man said with a light French accent. "It's wonderful to meet you!"

I stood up and shook the man's hand. 

"You know, you're the first of the touring applicants to arrive on campus," Depardieu told me. 

"I know... your security guard told me," I said. "I wanted to give myself plenty of time to view all the sights here!"  
  
"It's a beautiful city, isn't it?" he asked me. "Did you see the Neo-Eiffel Tower?"

I nodded.

"The Neo-Arc De Triumph? Notre Dame?" he asked. I nodded again. "Magnifique!"

"It really is a beautiful city," I told him. "Edward loves Neo-Paris!"

Oops... I didn't want to do that, not at all.... I had to be as mature as I possibly could be, especially in my speaking... I was sure one slip-up wouldn't totally blow my chances of getting into college, but-

"Who's Edward?" Depardieu asked, like I knew he would. "A friend of yours?"

"Yes, a friend!" I lied. "Someone who lives here that I'm planning to visit, which is one of the reasons I came early!"

"I see," Depardieu said. "You know, your tests results have been spectacular... I know you get a lot of this, but... you're quite a brilliant girl!"

I smiled, slightly beside myself. Actually, this was probably the first time anyone's said that about me... well, besides Faye-Faye, or Jet-person, or daddy. 

"Thank you, sir," I told him. 

"I'm really looking forward to interviewing you in four days, Miss Appledelhi. Well, anyway, now that you've checked in, you can go anywhere you want for the next four days. You can take in the sights of the city, tour the campus on your own..."

"Um... could you please tell me where I can find the archives of past students?" I asked, remembering that I wanted to find out as much as I could about my mom while I was here. "The ones from before 2060."

"Oh, the archives!" Depardieu said. "Absolutely... those are in the library, in their own section. Do you need directions to the library?"

"No, Edward can find it just fine!" I said, slipping up again. 

"Hmm... your friend, right?" Depardieu asked. "Is that what you-"

"Well, thank you!" I said quickly, backing toward the exit. "I should come back to this office in four days, right?"

"Yes, that's correct," Depardieu said. "I look forward to seeing you!"

I left the office and closed the door behind me. I was thinking of maybe tattling on the secretary who yelled at me earlier, but that wouldn't really help me, and I doing things out of revenge just wasn't me anyway. 

"Time to go to the library!" I said loudly, causing the two people walking through the hallway to turn and stare at me for a second or two before going about their business. _This is college... I should _really _be careful about that sorta thing..._

---

The library was pretty easy to find. I walked past the administration building and took the large paved path past several dormitories and school buildings, taking time to view the beautiful scenery as I walked. The library was in a large, marble building about the size of the administration building. The marble allowed the sun to reflect off the sides and roof of the building, giving it a beautiful shimmer. I walked up the stairs that led to the entrance of the building, a large, wooden door. Then, I pushed the door open and walked inside.

"Okay.... now where to start?" I said quietly, noticing all the people studying in the library. "I should probably get someone to help me..."

However, the reference desk by the entrance would be no help. The two people stationed there were already talking to people, with a fairly long line behind each person. It would be quite a while before I'd get any help from there.

"Guess I'd better just look around myself...." I said again. "Maybe Ed will get lucky..."

The library didn't have a large map like the administration building did, so I had to start looking myself. I journeyed through the stacks of books, looking for a sign that would point out the archives to me, but I wasn't able to find one. After about five minutes of searching the first floor of the library, I walked over to the stairs and prepared to search the second, when someone stopped me.

"Um, miss?" came a young-sounding male voice from behind me. "Are you looking for something?"  


I turned around and came face-to-face with one of the most handsome people I had ever seen.

"Hello.... can you help me?" I said meekly. The young man appeared to be in his late teens or early twenties, and, like I said, he was very handsome. He had beautiful blue eyes that accented his flawless face, which was clean-shaven and blemish-free, except for a small, faint scar below his lip. He had short, jet-black hair that shimmered as the lights inside the library shined down on it. He was fairly tall, a few inches taller than me, and he had a slender frame, with long legs. He didn't look very muscular, but I didn't really care, and he wore a neat-looking green sweater with blue denim jeans and a pair of well-shined black shoes. He began to speak again.

"I said, are you looking for something?" he asked nicely, with a minimal French accent that didn't really distort any of his words. "This place can be pretty confusing..."

"Well, you see, I'm looking for the archives of past students here... I was told that it was in the library..." I said, regaining my composure. "Could you please show Edward where the archives are?"

"Edward?" he said, slightly puzzled. _Oh no, I did it again..._

"Um... I mean me," I said. "Could you tell _me _where the archives are?"

"You know, I've got a friend that likes talking like that...." he said. "You know, in the third-person? So, your name's Edward then, correct?"

"Oh, no, my name is Francoise..." I told him, determined not to embarrass myself. Embarrass? I'd never been embarrassed talking like that before... what was happening to me? Was I-

"So your real name's Francoise, but you didn't like that name, so you go by Edward," he said. "Am I right?"  


__

"Oh my gosh... this guy understands Edward perfectly!" I thought. 

"Well.... yeah," I said, taken aback. 

"Francoise is a beautiful name, but Edward sounds pretty neat," he said, smiling. "Do you want me to call you Edward, or Francoise?"

"Edward, please!" I said happily.

"Well, Edward, it's nice to meet you! My name is Sylvan Mazarin. I'm a freshman at this college... I can tell you, it was hard for me to navigate this campus at first too!"

"It's nice to meet you too, Sylvan!" I said.

  
"Well, anyway, it's pretty easy to get to the archives from here... it's not in an actual place, per se. See, I'll show you!"

Sylvan led me to a small desk nearby, with four computer consoles sitting on it, none of them in use.

"The full archives are kept on the school's servers," Sylvan told me. "You can access them from there."

"Thank you," I told him.

"Forgive me if this is none of my business, but... what are you looking up?" he asked me.

  
"Well, it's not a what, it's more of a who," I told him. "My mom used to go to this college, and so Edward wants to find out more about her!"

"I see," Sylvan said. "So, are you one of the applicants visiting for the admissions interviews?"  


"Yeah, I am!" I told him. "Why do you ask Ed this?"

"Well, my dorm is in Dejoule Hall, the building where you guys'll be staying. There's a lot of people that don't like the fact that Dejoule is being used for housing you guys, since it means some people will have to move into another dorm for a week," Sylvan said. "I'm already in a dorm with a roommate, so it doesn't bother me much, but I just wanted to tell you so that if anybody gives you trouble, you'll know why."

__

"So that's why that girl was mean to Edward..." I thought. Still, I'd mostly ignored most of what he said... I was paying more attention to the part where he said we would be in the same building together!

  
"You're going to be in the same building with Edward?" I asked him. "That'll be swookie!"

"Swookie?" he asked me. 

  
"It's Edward's word, you see," I explained. "Swookie means great, absolutely wonderful incredible!" 

Now I was just excited, and I began to talk louder and louder.

"I see," Sylvan said. "Well, did you find what you needed?"

I nodded, showing Sylvan that I had found the file on my mom, which included a profile, a picture, and some other information.

"That's great!" he said. "Edward... tomorrow, would you like me to show you around the city?"

I was slightly surprised by Sylvan's offer... I mean, we'd only talked for a few minutes, and he's already offering to give me a tour of Neo-Paris?

"They're already giving you guys a tour of the campus, but no one's going to show you the city, which is a lot more beautiful than this campus is, trust me. I'm visiting my mom at her bistro tomorrow, so that's why I'll be in the city, and maybe I can give you a tour so that you won't be lost in the city like you were today.... um, I probably just said something wrong, didn't I?"

"No, that's okay!" I told him, giggling. "Edward would love to tour the city with you! We can meet outside Dejoule Hall tomorrow morning, okay?"

"That would be fine!" he said. "I've got a car, so don't worry about that. It'll be fun, I promise! Well, anyway, I gotta run... my class is in 15 minutes. See you tomorrow, okay?"

I nodded and waved at him as he left the library. Then, I turned back to the computer and began scanning my mom's college profile.

"Jeanine Pepelu..." I said, noting my mother's maiden name, which I'd integrated into my own. "Class of 2059... graduated with a master degree in demographic studies...."

I continued to peruse the file for about an hour, noting my mother's various accomplishments. One of the pictures in the archive showed her posing with daddy, both of them looking extremely happy. They were standing in front of the Neo-Eiffel Tower.

"That's them..." I said quietly. "Awww..."

I wanted to search the archive a bit more, but I was hungry. I switched off the computer, left the library, and headed to the campus food court to buy some lunch.

---

"Edward is sleepy..."

  
After getting to the food court, I had discovered that it was part of a large building containing an arcade, a movie theater, and a gym... it was practically a mall! I introduced myself to a lot of people and had a blast playing the various arcade games and getting involved in a few pick-up games of basketball. Maybe I'd had a bit too much fun, because by the time I'd gotten back to my dorm room, it was eleven o'clock at night! I flopped down on my bed and yawned. My suitcases were sitting right by the desk, but I was too tired to change into my pajamas now.

"Tomorrow, that French guy is giving Edward a Parisian tour!" I said. "Edward can't wait!"

Even though my anticipation level was high, I was extremely sleepy. So, it didn't take me long to close my eyes and fall asleep... completely forgetting to close my door.

---

Welp, that's the end of the chapter! Oooh, Edward's at the college! And so is that French guy, heh... he's not based on me at all, by the way, so don't call him a Larry Stu. He'll have flaws, and I really want to make Sylvan a good character. Well, read and review, please!


	5. Paris, Paris, It's A Whale Of A Town

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me. 

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few (non-generic) French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

Reviews: (I'll do a review column every three chapters, which means that the next one's coming up on Chapter 6. ^_^)

Made-Up Word: hyperlexan (n): Ultra-strong plastic developed in the mid 21st Century, most commonly used on skyscrapers and other large, futuristic structures. Practically fireproof and incredibly resilient. (Had the Twin Towers been made of this stuff, they'd have been completely undamaged on September 11th.)

---

When I woke up, the first thing I saw was my teddy bear shirt, lying on top of my face.

"Huh?" I said, picking it up and holding it. "That isn't supposed to be..."

I gasped. My two suitcases were lying on the floor, wide-open, and all of my clothes were strewn about the room. My toothpaste and my toothbrush were lying on the floor, with the toothpaste cap gone and a glob of paste coming from the tube. Tomato was lying at the foot of my bed, thankfully undamaged.

"Who would do this to Edward?" I said, beginning to gather my clothes, still in shock. "It must have been one of those mean people Sylvan was talking about..."

I quickly managed to place all of my clothes back in my suitcases after a few minutes, deciding that I'd better take Tomato with me. I cleaned the toothpaste off of the floor with some paper towels I found in the small bathroom next to my dorm room, and gathered my non-clothing items, placing them on the desk next to my bed.

  
"All better!" I said, smiling. "But still, I'd better be careful and lock my door next time!"

Thinking nothing more of the incident, I left the room (making SURE to lock the door behind me), and, carrying Tomato, headed downstairs toward the entrance. I made my way down to the lobby, where Sylvan was waiting.

  
"Hey, Edward!" he greeted me. "Sleep well?"  


I nodded, but then frowned as I recalled the state I'd found my room in several minutes ago.

"I think some of the students staying at this dorm trashed Edward's room last night," I said, a slight hint of anger in my voice. "You were right, they are mean..."

"Oh, Ed... I'm sorry," Sylvan said apologetically. "I knew some of the other students would be hostile, but I didn't think they would actually.... we should probably report this."

  
Sylvan was right, I probably should have told a dean or something, but...

  
"Edward does not want to be a tattletale!" I half-yelled at Sylvan.

"I know, but... Ed, if anyone hurts you or tries to hurt you in any way, then-"

Sylvan was concerned about me? He reminded me of daddy... except much, much more handsome. And French, too!

"Ed can defend Ed's self, you know...." I said indignantly. "Ed knows karate! Hiya!"

I pretended to judo-chop Sylvan's shoulder, causing him to chuckle slightly.

"Well, I'm just glad you're doing well, Edward... a lot of people would be really distraught about something like that happening to their room on their first day here!" Sylvan said.

  
"Well, I usually try to stay happy most of the time, you know?" I replied. "You know, life, liberty, and the pursuuuuuuit of happiness!"

"I think with you, the pursuit's already over," Sylvan said, chuckling again. "Well, Ed, are you ready to go?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, let's hit the road!" I said. Sylvan and I walked out to the small parking lot in front of the dorm, and Sylvan pointed out his automobile, a bright red hovercar that looked almost brand new. "That car's shiny!"  


"I know," Sylvan said. "My mom got it for me for my eighteenth birthday... I was just gonna buy a used one with my own money, but then she surprised me with this..."

"You said your mom owned a bistro in Paris, correct?" I asked Sylvan.

  
"That's right," Sylvan said. "It's a pretty successful place... it's got a stage where people can perform, and my mom usually sings every night. She's really good, or at least I think so... I'd love for you to be able to meet her!"

We climbed into Sylvan's car, and he began to start the ignition.

  
"Have you had breakfast yet, Ed?" Sylvan asked.

  
"Edward just got up, silly!" I told him.

"Well then, let's go to one of my favorite places, at least off-campus," Sylvan said, beginning to pull out of the parking lot. "_Le Fleur De Trois, _at the base of Leg Two of the Neo-Eiffel Tower. They've got excellent crépes."

"That's a super-flat pancake, right?" I asked, recalling some of what mom had taught me. "Edward loves pancakes!"

Sylvan's car drove out of the campus and onto a highway ramp leading into downtown Paris.

  
"It's just after rush hour, but there's still probably gonna be a ton of traffic," Sylvan said. He was right. As we drew closer toward downtown, a large traffic jam slowed our car to a snail's pace.

"Aww, that's no good..." I said sadly. "Edward is bored.... hey Sylvan, all Edward knows about you is that you're a college student from Paris.... can you tell Ed a bit more about yourself?"

"But of course!" Sylvan said, smiling. "Anyway, you know about my mom... my father is dead. I don't know all of the circumstances, but I know he was murdered."

"Murdered?" I said, a bit sadly. "That's terrible... I don't know what happened to my mother... she went missing and was never found, that's what the detectives told my dad. I know she was in Neo-Paris when she went missing, too."

"So we've both lost a parent..." Sylvan said. "I wish it weren't so...."

I nodded.

  
"I never really got to know my mom either," I told him. "I was seven when she disappeared."

"I was eight when they found my father's body... about ten years ago.... about the same time your mother disappeared, Ed."

  
"Ed thinks that's weird..." I said. "And sad."

Sylvan nodded.

  
"Well, let's talk about something happier. Like... what are you going to college for? I'm studying to be a historian," Sylvan said.

"A historian?" I asked him. History was one of the few things I really didn't know that much about... I guess I never really found it interesting. "That sounds kinda boring to Edward... um, no offense, though!"

"None taken!" Sylvan said, smiling. "Actually, lots of people find history and stuff like that boring... I think it's pretty exciting! Our own French culture has quite a rich history. Fine art, complicated political matters, extensive, yet mostly unsuccessful military campaigns... what about you, Edward? What are you planning to study next year?"

  
"Edward, um... doesn't really know..." I confessed. 

"You're only a year away from college, and you haven't decided what you want to do?" Sylvan said, inching our car down the highway. "Ed, you probably should think of something..."

"Oh, I know I should, but... the only real career that Ed has ever wanted is to be a... a bounty hunter!"

"A bounty hunter?" Sylvan said in shock. "Ed, bounty hunters are uncivilized, ruthless, violent-"

"That's not true, not the ones Edward knows!" I yelled angrily. "Not Faye-Faye or Jet-person! They're not like that! Spike-person wasn't like that either!"

"Wait... you know bounty hunters?" Sylvan said, his tone becoming slightly calmer. Of course! I hadn't told him about Bebop at all... about the best time of my life... I learned so much in so little time, and it had changed me quite a bit, more than I'd known at first...

"Four years ago, Edward spent several weeks aboard a bounty hunting ship called the Bebop," I told Sylvan, also becoming calmer. "It was my home... Ed loved the Bebop, we had so many fun adventures, and-"

As I began to tell Sylvan about the Bebop, our car sped up. We had just emerged from the traffic jam and were entering downtown Neo-Paris.

  
"Adventures?" Sylvan said as we drove through the streets of the city. "When we get to the _Fleur De Trois_, you'll have to tell me all about them, okay?"

"You really want to hear about Ed's bounty-hunting adventures?" I asked Sylvan, slightly surprised. He nodded at me.

"Part of being a historian is getting all sides of the story," he said. "The only information I've heard about bounty hunting is from people who despite it... but maybe once I've heard from someone who's actually lived with bounty hunters, I'll be able to form a different opinion. You weren't... kidnapped by them, were you?"

"No, silly!" I said, smiling. "Edward made Faye-Faye and Spike-person let Edward join them!"

"How'd you do that?" Sylvan asked. "And why'd you do that?"

"Well, Edward needed a home, you see, because Edward's dad left Ed at a convent, but Ed didn't want to go, because it was boooooooring and Edward wanted fun fun fun and adventure! So Ed tried to make her own adventure by hacking into people's computers, and then Ed hacked Bebop and Bebop crashed and they had to let Ed come with them!"

"You know, your life is probably a _lot _more interesting than mine," Sylvan said. "Your dad left you at a convent? You hacked into people's computers? And then you hacked into and crashed a spaceship?"

"Well... yeah," I said nonchalantly. "Edward doesn't do as much hacking as Edward used to, though..."

"You _definitely _have to tell me about all your adventures, Ed," Sylvan said, smiling. "Well, we're almost here... look!"

The mile-high Neo-Eiffel Tower towered before us, and even though we were still several blocks away from it, I had to crane my head to see the very top. It was a huge, beautiful structure, its strong, hyperlexan frame glistening in the sunlight. Sylvan drove into a large parking garage nearby and parked on the ground floor, paying a small fee so that a plexiglass gate positioned in front of the parking spot would open. We climbed out of the car and began walking toward the huge tower. Sylvan just walked normally, but I had to stop every few seconds every time I saw something cool, like a neat-shaped building or a pretty sign. I had been to many cities before, but none of them were nearly as big as this. Crowds of people teemed around us, and many, many cars zoomed past.

"First time in the big city?" Sylvan asked me.

"Of course not!" I told him. "Ed has been to big cities before, but this one is... a superdupermegalopolis!"

"That's a good way to put it," Sylvan said, chuckling. As we approached the huge tower, Sylvan led me toward the leg of the Neo Eiffer-Tower marked Leg 2 by a series of signs. Each of the legs of the tower were bigger than any skyscraper I'd ever seen before. We approached Leg 2 and entered it through one of the large revolving doors which served as entrances to the structure.

"It's like a giant shopping mall..." I said, looking around and seeing hundreds of shops and restaurants lining the walls as thousands of people milled about.

"The _Fleur De Trois _is right over here," Sylvan said, pointing to a small-looking cafe close to the revolving doors we had just entered through. "We don't have to go there first, though..."

  
"No, Edward is hungry... let's go now!" I said. 

  
"Alright then! You'll love this place, I promise!"

We entered the cafe and sat down at a table for two by the door. I sat across from Sylvan and picked up the menu. A tall, elderly man waved to Sylvan and walked over to our table immediately.

"Sylvan, my boy!" the man said, making it clear he knew Sylvan. "You have come with ze lady friend today, I see!"

"She's going to Liberty next year," Sylvan said. "Her name is Edward, and we met yesterday."

I smiled as Sylvan introduced me and shook the elderly man's hand.

"Yes, my name's Ed! It's nice to meet you!" I said happily.

  
"A girl with ze name of Edward?" the man asked. "Your parents have strange tastes in names... perhaps they named you and thought you would be a boy, but when you came out, zey did not have a female name picked out just in case, no?"

"Um... no, Edward named herself Edward!" I said.

"Well, anyway, have you selected what you will be having today?" the man asked.

"Well, I'll be having the usual," Sylvan said. "Ed, have you decided yet?"

"The cinnamon cherry crépes, please!" I said, looking at the menu and immediately deciding upon seeing the picture of the cinnamon cherry crépes that they would be absolutely delicious.

"Ah, zey are one of our specialties, madmoiselle! You will not be disappointed, I assure you! I will return with your meals very soon!"

  
After writing down our selections, the man walked away from the table.

"So, Ed.... your life sounds extremely interesting... I mean, bounty hunting adventures, computer hacking, life in a convent... it must have been pretty stressful!"

  
"Not really..." I said. "I mean, I guess it would seem that way, but... Edward just thought it was exciting!"

And so, I began to tell Sylvan about my life, starting at when my dad had left me at the convent, until the time when I left the convent a short while afterwards. After that, I began to regale my adventures aboard the Bebop.

"And then... Edward chewed on his ear!"

"You chewed a man's ear?" Sylvan said, slightly taken aback. "Um... I know he snapped at you, but-"

  
"Edward didn't bite it off... Ed just wanted to teach him a lesson! Ed was really hungry, but... you don't think that-"

"No, of course not..." Sylvan said. He still seemed a bit weirded out... maybe I shouldn't have told him about the whole ear incident. But before I could tell him about another adventure, the waiter returned with our meals. He placed a plate filled with scrambled eggs and bleu cheese in front of Sylvan, while I recieved my cinnamon cherry crépes! Five thin crépes had been stacked on the plate, all of them well-sprinkled with cinnamon. Several cherries were on top of the stack of crépes, and cherry syrup dripped down from them onto my plate.

"This looks delicious!" I said, smiling. I took my knife and sliced off a portion of the cinnamon and syrup-drenched crépes, then gently lifted the fork to my lips, slowly biting off the piece.

"How is it, Ed?" Sylvan asked. As the taste of the fluffy crépes, the sweet cinnamon, and the cherry juice began to dance onto my tongue, I emitted a soft squeal of glee. This was the best thing I'd ever tasted in my entire life! 

"I think that the madmoiselle likes it!" said the elderly waiter, and I began nodding quickly.

"Edward does! Edward does like it!" I said, taking another delicious bite. "Mmm, this is wonderful! Wonderful funderful!"

"Sure does taste a lot better than that guy's ear did, doesn't it?" Sylvan asked sarcastically. I smiled at him and nodded again.

"Edward likes sweet things, silly..." I said sweetly. 

"I'm glad you like it, Ed, I really am..." Sylvan said. "This is my favorite restaurant too."

---

After finishing the meal, Sylvan offered to pay for the whole thing, but I insisted I pay for my own food. We left the restaurant, and he offered to take me up to the top of the Neo-Eiffel Tower, but once we reached the entrance to the observation deck, we learned from a maintenance worker that it would be closed for the day due to repairs. So, after doing some shopping in the various shops in the tower, along with a return trip to _Fleur De Trois _in the afternoon for lunch, we left the tower and got back into Sylvan's car so that he could drive me around the city. I placed three shopping bags in the back seat of his car, which contained all kinds of things that I'd purchased in the shops.

"Sylvan, how would Edward look in this?" I asked Sylvan as he began to start the car, holding up a beautiful white dress that I'd purchased in one of the Neo-Eiffel Tower's fine dress shops.

"Well, I'd say you'd look pretty good... for 140,000 wulongs, it would have to look good, wouldn't you say?" Sylvan said. 

"You're right, Edward probably did spend too much..." I said. "Ed only has 495,000 wulongs left!"

"Edward, I think you'd look absolutely stunning in that dress," Sylvan said softly. "You're a beautiful girl, you know that?"

Sylvan... thought I was beautiful? I was stunned at first, but I didn't show it. Was he just flirting? I knew French men loved to flirt... my mom told me. She didn't even marry a French man, though. She married my dad, who, I'd learned, was an amalgam of many different cultures. He was only about 10% French. Sylvan was probably ten times that much.

"You really think Edward is beautiful?" I asked him.

"Edward, you're lovely... I will admit that you're a bit weird, but everyone's unique. You're not just beautiful, you're kind, and I admire that."

"Edward thinks you look handsome too, Sylvan!" I told him. I honestly did think he was handsome... very handsome. He thought I was weird, but at least it was only a bit weird. Most people just thought I was crazy. "Thank you, Sylvan!"

We pulled out of the parking garage and got back onto the street. Sylvan began to drive toward one of the other major landmarks in the city.

"Look, it's the Neo-Arc De Triumph!" I said, pointing it out to Sylvan. 

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he said. "Wanna go to the top?"  


"We can?" I asked him. "Really?" 

  
He nodded, and sped up slightly, driving toward the huge, marble-sculpted monument.

---

"Wow...."

We had reached the top of the Neo-Arc De Triumph just as the sun had begun to set. A beautiful orange glow lit up the sky. The terraformed atmosphere of Mars had been treated with a special agent that allowed the sun to be viewed just as large and as beautiful as it was on Earth.

"This is the best time of day to be up here," Sylvan said. "I've never been up here during a sunset before..."

  
"Sylvan, this is wonderful!" I said, turning toward him. "It's the most beautiful and incredible thing I've ever seen..."

"More beautiful than anything even in space?" he asked me.

"Well, it's close, but... yeah, this really is!" I said happily. "Thank you for taking me up here to see it..."

"You're welcome, Ed... hey, it's getting pretty late... are you getting hungry for supper?"

"Yeah, Ed is getting pretty hungry," I said, noticing that my stomach had started to growl quietly. "You told Edward about that bistro that your mom runs... we're going there for supper, right?"

  
"Yes... it's a wonderful place!" Sylvan said excitedly. "It's called the _Fantaisie Sign_... it's some name my mom made up, I forget what it means. She'll definitely be there, though, and like I said, I'd love for you to meet her!"

"Edward would love to!" I said. After taking one last look at the sunset, we walked over to the other end of the top of the Neo-Arc De Triumph, where a small elevator shuttled people to and from the base of the monument. We stepped into the elevator and headed down to a small lot nearby, where Sylvan's car was parked. Sylvan started the car, and began to drive through the streets of the city.

"Well, Edward, how's Neo-Paris so far?" Sylvan asked.

"It's wonderful..." I said, smiling at him. "Thank you...."

As Sylvan drove to the _Fantaisie Sign_, I leaned back and let the wind blow through my hair as our car sped through the streets. I could really get used to living in a place like this...

---

And that's the end of chapter 5! Please, please review, people! Please? I only got three reviews last chapter... ^_^;;;


	6. Always The Rock Of The Excited Soul, In ...

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me. Also, the two song lyrics featured in this chapter are from www.animelyrics.com, a great site for, well, anime lyrics. Check it out for all of your anime lyric needs! ^_^

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few (non-generic) French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

Reviews: (I'll do a review column every three chapters, which means that the next one's coming up on Chapter 6. Actually, Chapter 7... time's short today. ^_^)

---

We parked outside the _Fantaisie Sign, _near the building in a parking space marked "Employees Only" in both English and French. I was going to say something, but then I remembered that Sylvan's mother owned the restaurant, so there wouldn't be a problem with parking in an Employees Only parking space. Before we went into the building, I had made sure to put on the light pink socks that I'd bought at the mall earlier, like daddy had told me to. The building was a moderately sized one-story structure with many windows, and I could see that there were many people inside, seated at tables. Large, glowing neon letters above the door clearly identified the building as the _Fantaisie Sign_. 

"Well, this is the place!" Sylvan said as we both exited his hovercar. The _Fantaisie Sign _was nestled between two larger buildings, but easy to see since the parking lot and the building were separated from the two larger buildings by small gardens of flowers on either side.

"It looks pretty!" I said cheerfully, observing the beautiful shades of purple and blue that adorned the building. We walked up a small stairway to the entrance, and Sylvan kindly held the door for me as I walked inside. He quickly entered behind me. As we entered the bistro, I looked around, taking in the sights and sounds of the interior. Bright blue and purple lighting illuminated the room, the lights sometimes moving like spotlights to create a vibrant atmosphere. Many small, round tables were spread out around the large dining room, and several waiters and waitresses were walking around, serving the many patrons. The tables faced a large, short stage with a closed red curtain, which obviously meant that the stage was not in use at the time, but I really hoped that I would get to see a show! Large speakers near the stage were blaring out French pop music that added to the noise already being generated by the many people in the restaurant. 

"Ah, Monsieur Sylvan!" said a neatly dressed maitre'd standing next to the door, behind a small podium. "And who is this with you tonight?"

"This is Edward Appledelhi," Sylvan said, introducing me to the maitre'd. I smiled and waved to him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, truly it is!" I said. "This really is a lovely place!!  


"Merci, merci!" said the maitre'd. He turned to Sylvan. "Sylvan, votre amie de dame regarde absolument beau, non?"

"She is, she is," Sylvan said, turning to me. "What he said was-"

  
"That Edward looks absolutely beautiful!" I said, smiling. "Merci beaucoup!"

"Ah, so you have knowledge of our beautiful French language?" the maitre'd asked me.

"That's right! Edward was taught French by Edward's mother!" I replied.

"She's got this thing where she talks in third-person," Sylvan said before the maitre'd could comment. "It's a bit unusual, but I don't mind it much. Edward's very unique!"

"Ah, I see!" the maitre'd said. "Well, any friend of Sylvan's is a friend of mine. Come, right this way! You want a table right next to the stage, non? Or did you come to visit your mother?"

  
"Well, I guess both," Sylvan said. "Ed, you'd like to meet my mom, right?"

I nodded.

"Of course Ed would!" I said. "Or.... whatever Sylvan wants to do!"

"Let's go back to my mother's office," Sylvan said. "I'm sure she's not too busy... I think she's about to go on stage, but she'd be happy to see us."

"Okay!" 

"Zen right this way, I will have someone take you right to Madame Mazarin's office," the maitre'd said.

"That won't be necessary, I know where it is," Sylvan said. "But thank you!"

The maitre'd nodded, and Sylvan began walking toward the back of the restaurant, gesturing for me to follow him. I did, and we quickly made our way to a small, brown door near the stage marked "Employees Only". We stepped inside and passed through a small hallway to another brown door.

"This is it," Sylvan said, pointing toward the door. "I'll knock."

Sylvan gently knocked on the door, and within a few seconds, it opened. A beautiful, tall woman with long black hair, bright blue eyes, a slender frame and long, slender legs appeared. She was wearing a beautiful ruby red dress and tall, white high-heeled shoes. _Good looks sure do run in this family..._

"Sylvan, mon enfant!" the woman said happily, embracing Sylvan. She then turned to me. "And... who are you?"

"Her name's Edward," Sylvan said. "Well, actually, it's Francoise, but she likes to be called Edward. She's going to be going to my college next year!"

"Really? That's wonderful!" said Sylvan's mother. "So, Fran... Edward, did Sylvan bring you here?"

I nodded.

  
"I'm very happy to meet you, Mrs. Mazarin!" I said. "Sylvan's told me a lot about you! He said you're a wonderful singer."

  
"Oh, did he now?" she said, turning back to him. "You know I'm not really that good..."

  
"Don't be modest, mom!" Sylvan said. "Of course you are! So, when do you go on tonight?"

"In about fifteen minutes," said Sylvan's mom. "Did you both come to watch?"

"Of course we did!" I said happily. "Edward can't wait to hear you sing!"

"Well, that's wonderful!" Sylvan's mom said. "Have you two had supper yet? I'll tell the waiters to give the both of you anything you want, on the house!"

  
"No, no, no thank you!" I chimed politely, not wanting to take advantage of my new friendship, especially since it was only a day old and I had more than enough money to pay for anything I wanted to eat anyway. "Edward can pay, really!"

  
"I absolutely insist," she said kindly, smiling at both of us. "I mean, I've got to do what I can to make this night magical, right? It's only Sylvan's... fourth date, I believe."

"Fifth, mother," Sylvan said, slightly embarrassed. "Um... we're not dating, really! Ed and I are just friends!"

I blushed, even though I knew it was easy for anyone to confuse us for a couple out on a date.

  
"Just friends, yes!" I said. Mrs. Mazarin smiled.

"Well, I still insist that you both eat for free," Sylvan's mom said. "Only the best for my son's friends!"

"Spokey dokey!" I said, accepting the generous offer. Sylvan's mom groaned slightly and whispered something in Sylvan's ear that I could barely hear.

"Votre nouvel ami, elle est un peu... outre du mur, hmm ?" she said quietly, but not quietly enough so that I couldn't make out all the words. Off the wall? _I should probably act a bit more mature in Mrs. Mazarin's presence..._

"Ed's fine, mom," Sylvan said back to her. "She's just got a unique way of expressing herself. Nothing wrong with that at all!"

  
Sylvan smiled at me, then turned back to his mom.

  
"Well, she is a sweet girl... I think maybe the two of you should think about getting together," she said, again trying to be quiet but not quiet enough for my ears! Sylvan chuckled a bit at the comment, and I emitted a quiet giggle.

"We should probably go to our table now, mom," Sylvan said. "It was nice seeing you again, mom! After the performance Ed and I will come backstage again, okay?"

"That's right, we will!" I said. "Break a leg!"

We went back out to the front of the restaurant and sat down at a small table next to the stage. A minute or two after we took our seats, a waiter came to our table and presented us with two small glasses and a large bottle of fine French champagne.

"Compliments of your mother, Monsieur Sylvan," the waiter said, placing the champagne bottle on our table. "I will return in a few moments to take your order."

The waiter left, and Sylvan removed the cork from our champagne bottle, pouring champagne into his glass until it was about a third of the way full.

"I hardly ever drink champagne, and when I do, only a little bit," he said. "You know what it does if you drink too much."

I nodded. I'd tasted alcohol before, and it tasted terrible... of course, that was when I'd accidentally taken a sip from a shot of whiskey that Spike had left on the table back when I was adventuring on the Bebop. I knew that fine champagne would probably taste a lot better, but I didn't really want to drink any of it, since I didn't want to get... well, you know, drunk.

"Just a little bit," I said, carefully pouring a small amount of champagne into my glass. I lifted the glass to my lips and sipped the red liquid. "Mmm, tastes like grapes!"

Sylvan smirked and chuckled a bit.

  
"That's what it's made from," Sylvan said, also taking a sip of champagne. "Like I said, it's okay in small amounts, but you never want to drink enough to get drunk... that's why it's banned for us young people in most other countries."

"Because the French are responsible!" I said, taking another sip of my champagne. "We'll have the waiter take the bottle when he comes back."

And a few seconds later, the waiter did come back. Sylvan handed him the still mostly-full champagne bottle, and the waiter gently took it.

"Monsieur Sylvan and his lady friend are not champagne connoisseurs, I see," the waiter observed correctly. "Well, that's good. Best not to start at a young age. Have you both decided on what you want to eat for this evening?"

"I have," Sylvan said. "I'll take the prime rib and the glazed French duck, and a small salad."

  
"Excellent choice, sir," the waiter said. "And for the lady?"

"Hmm... Edward will have the crepe suzette and a Ganymede rock lobster, please! Oh, and a grape soda!" I said. The Ganymede rock lobster and I went a long way back... time to settle that score once and for all. I'd just have to remember not to refrigerate the thing. Spike gave me that little gem of advice.

  
"Also a good choice," the waiter said, taking our menus. "Your meals will be out shortly. Madame Mazarin performs in ten minutes, so enjoy the show."

Sylvan and I took the last sips from our champagne glasses, and then sat back to watch Sylvan's mother's performance. 

"Where'd your mom learn to sing, Sylvan?" I asked him.

"She said that she started when she was just a little girl," he replied. "She told me she wanted to grow up to be a singer, but then she met my dad, and they bought this place. They turned it into the _Fantaisie Sign_, and my mom became the main attraction here. She's made quite a bit of money with this place, because a lot of people in Neo-Paris love to come out and watch her sing!"

"Ah, okay!" I said. "That sounds wonderful!"

I liked to sing, too. I had no desire to do it professionally, but I did enjoy singing a tune or two to myself whenever I got the chance. I secretly always thought that I was pretty good at it... maybe I'd sing for Sylvan sometime later on. I definitely wasn't as good as his mother, but I was sure that he'd like it. After a few more minutes of waiting, Sylvan's mother stepped out onto the stage, holding a small microphone in her hands, which were adorned with beautiful white gloves. The French pop music blaring through the speakers stopped.

"Good evening, and welcome to you all!" Sylvan's mom said charismatically, smiling and facing the crowd of restaurant patrons. "I hope that you'll enjoy tonight's performance as much as I'll enjoy performing for all of you!"

I clapped, and Sylvan clapped as well. The other people in the restaurant also clapped, forming a round of applause. A small band of four neatly-dressed musicians, on stage behind Sylvan's mother, began to play, and the beautiful woman began to sing.

__
    
    Un promenade
    Et l'univers c'est moi
    Apres Un cascade
    Son eau c'est toujours toi
    Un escapade
    La vie est dans les bois
    Et puis Un balade
    Son sujet c'est toujours toi
    Un promenade
    Et l'univers c'est moi
    Apres Un cascade
    Son eau c'est toujours toi
    C'est comme le vert des champs et
    Comme un oiseaux qui vole
    C'est toujours toi
    C'est toujours moi
    Toujours le rouchet de l'ame emu
    Comme un enfant qui vois
    La temps passer comme drole
    C'est toujours toi
    C'est toujours moi
    Sur les ailes et les chants du grand amour
    C'est comme le vert des champs et
    Comme un oiseaux qui vole
    C'est toujours toi
    C'est toujours moi
    Toujours le rouchet de l'ame emu
    Dans cette epoque cybernique
    Pleine de gents informatique
    C'est la sel fantaisie ici pour toujours
    C'est toujours moi
    C'est toujours toi
    C'est comme le vert des champs et
    Comme un oiseaux qui vole
    C'est toujours toi
    C'est toujours moi
    Toujours le rouchet de l'ame emu
    Comme l'air c'est doucement egu
    Le bleu du ciel biel apercu
    C'est la sel fantaisie ici pour toujours
    C'est toujours toi
    C'est toujours moi
    Pour toujours
    Encore des jours
    Et des jours
    Et des jours
    C'est toujours toi
    Et moi
    Et toi

As the song finally ceased, many of the people in the restaurant erupted into cheers. Sylvan cheered especially loudly, and I joined him, as we both stood up and gave Sylvan's mom a rousing ovation. Her voice was one of the most beautiful I'd ever heard, and she definitely deserved all the applause she received. As we clapped, I noticed a tall, trenchcoated man at the table next to us, clapping as well. Three rough-looking men were standing near him, also wearing trenchcoats. I turned to Sylvan.

"Sylvan, those guys at the table next to us... they look kinda suspicious, don't you think?" I whispered to Sylvan as the cheers began to die down. He glanced over at the men and smirked.

"Eh, a lot of weird characters come around here all the time, Ed," Sylvan said nonchalantly. "I usually just ignore them."

  
Reassured, I sat down at the table with Sylvan and enjoyed the rest of Sylvan's mother's performance, as well as the fine meal that we received. The Ganymede rock lobster was especially delicious, and I wondered why Spike never ate his when he got it... he didn't know what he was missing!

"So, it was the lobster that spoiled and nearly took over the ship?" Sylvan asked me after I'd told him the story of the 'swooookie space creature'. 

"Yeah, that's what Spike-person said, anyway!" I told him. "The moral of the story is... always eat bad food! Um... before it turns bad."

Sylvan chuckled.

  
"Well, that was a good story, Ed!" he said amusedly. "I think I'll remember that lesson!"

The music on stage stopped, and Sylvan's mom began talking into her microphone.

  
"Well, it's been absolutely wonderful performing for all of you tonight!" she said. "As always, now begins the karaoke performance portion of the evening! Would anyone like to come up and take the mike?"

"Ed, how about you?" Sylvan asked me. "You've got a pretty voice, and I think you'd make a lovely singer!"

  
"Really, Sylvan?" I said, slightly taken aback. "Oh, no, I couldn't..."

  
"C'mon, Ed!" Sylvan said. "I promise you'll have fun! You won't be embarrassed, I promise!"

__

So, I would get my chance to sing for Sylvan... I was very nervous, completely not ready for something like this, but... oh, what the heck. 

  
"Here goes nothing, then!" I said, raising my hand into the air. "Pick me! Pick Edward!"

  
Sylvan's mom smiled and gestured for me to come up on stage.

  
"Well, go on!" Sylvan said, smiling sweetly. "You'll do great!"

  
I walked on stage and took the mike from Sylvan's mom. Then, I began to sing a song that I'd learned from my mother, a long, long time ago. It was a mix of both French and Japanese, a language which my father knew quite well, and which my mother had made a song from, using both languages. I knew the French people here wouldn't understand half the song, but both languages were beautiful, so it didn't matter. I began to sing.

__
    
    boku no koinu ga
    inaku no ta
    shiroi ashi shiroi shippo
    zutto isshou datanoni
    boku no koinu ga
    inaku no ta
    shiroi mimi shiroi senaka
    itsumo isshou datanoni
    boku wa kawaita namida de
    mainichi kura shiteru
    hayaku
    kaete kite
    ame no hi mo kaze no hi mo
    mainichi sabo shite
    ageru
    dakara hayaku, hayaku kaete kite
    j'eu suis sa mosokona
    wichet de bous sobleu
    que se apusizi lepou zi ne
    j'eu mi si tu lamour, tu lamour chet moi
    hmm-hmm
    j'eu suis sa mosokona
    ruchet de bous sobleu
    que se apusizi lepou zi ne
    j'eu mi si tu lamour, tu lamour chet moi
    hmm-hmm
    adetu la mien ka fe tu notra
    abelru hii ri soa
    a lamour
    ma-mii...
    andetu la rien ka fe tu notra
    abelru hii ri sora
    a lamour
    j'eu me tu lire ti la me tushe kyuela
    j'eu suis sa mosokona
    wichet de bous sobleu
    que se apusizi lepou zi ne
    j'eu mi si tu lamour, tu lamour chet moi
    hmm-hmm
    j'eu suis la mo saa 

I sang softly the whole time, but the microphone amplified my voice enough so that everyone in the restaurant could hear me, a fact that I took with a bit of dismay. Once I finished, I meekly handed the microphone back to Sylvan's mom. As I did, the audience began to cheer.

  
"Cheering... for Edward?" I said, blinking my eyes. They were actually cheering for me! I was so happy, I couldn't believe it!

"Of course they are, mon ami!" Sylvan's mom said. "Your voice is beautiful... you know, you might be as good as me!"

  
I knew she was just trying to flatter me, but I also knew that she was impressed, if even just a little bit. I returned to my table and sat down next to Sylvan. A big smile was on his face.

  
"I told you you could do it, Edward!" he said happily. "I believed in you, and you believed in yourself! Great job, Ed!"

I smiled back at him. Then, I wrapped my arms around his chest in a light embrace.

  
"Thank you so much, Sylvan!" I said. "You have shown Edward Neo-Paris and have made Edward's day... thank you for believing in me!"

  
I gently released him. He picked up my left hand and lifted it to his lips, kissing it gently.

  
"No, thank you, Edward... for giving me the pleasure of your acquaintance," he said sweetly. "Vou etes celui qui a fait mon jour."

__

I'd made his day too...

---

Back in Sylvan's mother's office...

"Edward absolutely loves this place!" I said excitedly. "Ed will visit every week... no, every day... twice a day!"

"Well, you're welcome here any time!" Sylvan's mom said, giggling. "You really are a good singer!"

"That you are, Ed!" Sylvan said, smiling. "Well, it's getting pretty late... we'd better head back to-"

  
Suddenly, the door opened. The three of us turned to see who was coming into the room, and were greeted by the five trenchcoated men that I'd noticed earlier. I immediately tensed up with fear, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. A chill went down my spine. The tall man whom I'd identified as the leader stepped forward and removed the wide-brimmed hat he was wearing, revealing a pale face with a large red scar across the left cheek. His hair was long, black, and straight, and his body was slender, with no real muscular mass that I could discern.

"What are you doing in here?" Sylvan's mother yelled fearfully. "How did you get here?"

"Oh, we merely had to strongarm a couple of your pathetic waiters," the man said. His voice was deep, and he had a light French accent, although a bit heavier than Sylvan's. "But we mean you no harm, mon cherie... we are merely here to offer our services."

"What kind of services?" said Sylvan's mom.

  
"Protection, madame," the man said. "There are a lot of... dangerous people out there. My name is Cecelle Frémont, and for a small fee, my associates and I can ensure that this fine establishment remains safe and secure."

  
"The _Fantaisie Sign _has never been the scene of any crime!" Sylvan said. "It's perfectly safe here!"

  
"We live in troubling times, my boy..." Frémont said darkly. "Times when bad things can... _and do happen _to good people. But bad things never happen to people who know the value of good protection."

  
"And what exactly _is _the value of your... protection?" Sylvan's mother asked skeptically.

"Mmm... for a place like this, I'd say it would run you about 250,000 wulongs a week, give or take a few ten thousand wulongs here or there."

"250,000 wulongs? Absolutely not..." Sylvan's mom said, her voice beginning to tremble. "Please leave, or I'll call the police!"

"The police... they can do nothing," Frémont said. "Not in this society, they can't. Trust me, you need protection. You don't want to know what happens to people who don't think they need protection."

Sylvan began to clutch my hand tightly. I was scared, and I could tell that he was too.

  
"Edward," Sylvan whispered. "I promise, nothing will happen to you..."

"Since this is a very surprising offer, I will give you until tomorrow night to think it over," Frémont said slyly. "But remember... everyone needs protection. Everyone."

  
The tall, pale man turned to his four trenchcoated henchmen and nodded. They quietly walked out of the room, leaving the three of us .

"Edward has seen that man's face before...." I said, remembering the Bigshot episode from several days ago. "He's the leader of _Rose Du Diable..."_

"The French syndicate," Sylvan's mom said morbidly. "They've already targeted several places around here recently, but... I didn't think they'd come to the _Fantaisie Sign_..."

"Mother, are you... scared of them?" Sylvan asked, even though he knew all three of us were afraid. "I've been taking firing lessons, you know that..."

  
"Yes, I know, Sylvan, but... yes, I am afraid," Sylvan's mom said. "You know I don't want you getting hurt... please, don't come back here until I've got this whole thing worked out. I can probably afford to pay them..."

"Mom, you can't... you can't give in, you can't show them you're afraid... I can-"

"No, you can't, Sylvan!" his mother yelled. "You know you can't! You know what happened to your father..."

__

He knew? I sure didn't know... 

  
"Wait, the French syndicate killed your dad?" I asked Sylvan, speaking up for the first time in quite a while.

"Yes, that's what we think, anyway," Sylvan said. "That's why I got a gun about a year ago and started taking firing lessons... I'm getting pretty good, I think..."

"I know the French syndicate killed him...." Sylvan's mother said angrily. "Damnez ces bâtards... fichus ils directement à l'enfer!" 

I could clearly make out the obscenities in her last sentence... she clearly had every right to be angry... poor Sylvan and his mother, losing the father to violence like that...

  
"Well, I should probably take Ed back to the college," Sylvan said, his tone changing. "Be careful, mom..."

I nodded at her, then thanked her for the free food and allowing me to come up on stage earlier. Despite the events of a few minutes ago, she smiling and hugged me before we left.

"Goodbye, Sylvan... and you too, Ed... I'll be safe," Sylvan's mom said. "Have a good evening, and remember what I said, Sylvan."

  
We left the _Fantaisie Sign _and climbed into Sylvan's hovercar.

  
"When we get back, I should probably call my dad..." I said, remembering the promise I'd made to him. "Sylvan, are you worried?"

  
"I am, a little..." Sylvan said. "I don't care what my mom said. We're coming back tomorrow night... at least I am... I can't let my mother get hurt!"  


"Can Edward come with you?" I asked him, feeling a bit concerned for Sylvan's safety as well as his mother's.

  
"I don't want to endanger you, Ed... you know that," Sylvan said. "Just... have fun tomorrow, okay? Don't think about me..."

"How can Edward not think about you?" I asked Sylvan as we began to drive away from the restaurant. "You're Edward's friend..."

"And you're my friend too," Sylvan said. "That's why..." 

"I understand, Sylvan," I said, still a bit worried. The French syndicate was vicious... I didn't want them to hurt Sylvan! But maybe he was right... maybe he'd be okay. _I sure hope you're right..._

---

And I do too! ^_^ I mean, if anyone hurt Edward, I'd cry! Well, hope you all enjoyed this (quite musical) chapter! Be sure to review, okay?


	7. We Can Dance If We Want To, We Can Leave...

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me. 

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few (non-generic) French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

Reviews:

Ummmyeah: Well, actually, Faye and the others most likely won't appear in this fic... at least in person, maybe in more phone calls and stuff. ^_^ Sorry if you're disappointed!

Afgncaap5: Thanks! The song with Japanese is called Wo Qui Non Coin, about a lost puppy. ^_^ 

Katers: Thanks for reviewin'! I've never heard of that French rap band before, but I'm sure they're good! And I'm using Babelfish for most of my French, so there might be a few things lost in translation. I'll remember though!

GiveGodtheglory: Thanks! Hope you like this next chapter!

---

After saying goodnight to Sylvan, I went back up to my dorm room and used the satellite videophone on my desk to make a call back to Earth. After ringing three times, my father finally picked up the phone, and his face appeared on the screen.

  
"Francoise, is that you?" he asked excitedly. "How's Paris?"  
  
"Oh, Paris is wonderful, daddy!" I told him, smiling. "Edward is doing absolutely fabulous!"

"That's just great! So, do you know if you're gonna be admitted to the college?"

"Well, I take the tour three days from now... Ed should find out a little while afterwards, okay?"

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself! So, have you seen any sights in Neo-Paris? I mean, the famous buildings, the museums-"

"Oh, absolutely!" I didn't know whether I should tell my dad about Sylvan yet, or wait. I decided to tell him. "And Ed met this wonderful guy at the college! His name is Sylvan, and-"

"A... guy?" my father said incredulously. "Now Francoise, you know what I told you about French guys."

  
"No, nonono, Sylvan isn't like that!" I protested. "Really, he isn't! He's only a year older than Edward... he goes to the college, you see, and he's really nice, and he took me around the city, and-"

"Wait, he gave you a tour of the city?"

"Yeah, he took Ed to this cool place where his mommy works, and she sang, and then Edward got to sing, and Sylvan said-"

Before I could tell him anymore, he began to chortle and laugh. I blinked, then asked him why he was laughing.

"Sounds like you are having a great time, Ed!" my dad laughed. "You know, your mother was the one who gave me a tour of the city... did you guys go up in the Eiffel Tower?"

"Well, the observation deck was closed when we went, but Sylvan said he'd take me up when it was opened again. He took me to the Arc De Triumph, though! That was funderful!"

"Did you buy a pair of socks like I asked you too?" he asked me. I smiled.

  
"Of course Edward did! In fact, Ed bought a lot of stuff! See, Faye-Faye sent Ed a lot of money, even more than the plane ticket cost! So Ed bought a new dress, and some cool leather gloves, and a bunch of different pairs of pants, and a pretty blue-colored hair ribbon, and... well, Ed will show you everything when Ed gets home, okay? Promise!"

"Well, alright, Francoise!" my dad said, yawning. "I miss you, too, you know that... keep safe, okay? And have lots of fun!"

"Sure thing, daddy!"

"And you know I can't always be there, and I want you to use good judgement, but if you and that French guy round third base and start heading for home, make sure you use pro-"

  
"DADDY!" I squealed, my entire face turning red. I can't believe he'd think I would... Sylvan and I are just friends... it's a good thing he wasn't here to hear that... "Edward is not like that at all!"  


"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" he said hurriedly, waving his arms. "Uh... call me tomorrow, okay?"

The video screen switched off. I sighed, smiled, and flopped onto my bed, ready for tomorrow's adventures.

---

Thankfully, when I woke up the next day, my stuff was completely untouched. Guess they decided to mess with someone else, as I'd noticed many of the other people that would be touring the campus had arrived while I was off in downtown Neo-Paris with Sylvan. Speaking of Sylvan, I didn't see him at all in the morning, and by mid-afternoon I had gotten pretty worried, so I decided to head to the food court. Maybe a few arcade games would calm me down. Wearing a green turtlenecked sweater and a pair of long, brown pants that I'd bought at the Neo-Eiffel Tower yesterday, I strolled into the campus' recreational building and walked into the arcade. 

"Fun fun fun, gonna play some games..." I sang quietly to myself. "Oooh, it's a 21st Century Dance Party game machine! Edward is soooo there!"

I walked over to the machine, where a tall, pretty girl with long, flowing red hair was dancing up a storm on one of the advanced levels. Several other girls were standing next to the machine, discussing something. When I ventured over to them, I was able to hear their conversation, and could immediately relate to them.

"So when I woke up, the whole room was covered with toilet paper... it was crazy! Someone came in during the night and TPd the whole room!" shouted the girl I was standing next to, a bespectacled girl with tanned skin and short black hair. "It was terrible...."

  
"Well, they poured red paint all over my blankets," said a girl with blonde hair, standing next to the black-haired one. "I thought something horrible had happened!"  


"They trashed my room," I said meekly. "All my stuff was everywhere..."

The four girls in the group turned to face me. The one with the black hair smiled.

"Oh, hello!" she said in a friendly voice. "And who might you be?"  


"My name is Francoise Appledelhi," I said, opting to talk in a bit more of a normal manner until I got to know these girls a bit better. "Are you girls applying for this college too?"  
  
"Yeah," said the black-haired girl. "My name's Asada Konishi, and I came to Paris from Europa."

"My name is Kimberly," said the blonde girl who had also spoken earlier. "I'm from Neo-America, here on Mars."

"My name is Piripi," said a girl with dark, bluish-black hair who was standing across from me. "I come from right here in Neo-Paris!"

"And my name is Sani," said a girl with shimmering, platinum-blonde hair who was standing next to me on my left side. "I came from Earth..."

I gasped. Another girl from Earth? Wow, small solar system...

"You are from Earth too?" I asked, rather stunned. "Ed is also from Earth!"  
  
"Um... who's Ed?" Sani asked, giving me a puzzled look. 

__

"Uh oh... Edward blew it, didn't she?" I thought to myself. "Well, you see..."

"Bit of an identity crisis, I see," said the redhead who had been dancing on the Dance Party machine. She hopped down and smiled at me, extending her hand. "Hey, I'm Kirsten. It's nice to meet you, Francoise!"

"Kirsten's taking psychology next year," Asada said. "She can diagnose anybody perfectly!"  


"Diagnose... Edward?" I said, a bit puzzled. "Wait, no, I'm fine!"

"Edward is you, right?" Kirsten asked. I simply nodded. "Thought so. You speak in the third-person... but I can tell that you don't really have a big ego. So, that means you must be..."

"I'm not crazy," I told her seriously. "Look, I-"

"Oh, you don't have to hide your unique way of speaking, it's not a bad thing! Lots and lots of people talk in the third-person, more than you know! I actually used to myself a few years ago..." Kirsten said, smiling. "I bet I can tell a lot more about you by playing a game of Dance Party with you. Would you like to do that?"

"Kirsten is like... the best," Kimberly said. "She's completely unbeatable!"

"Hey, I _almost _beat her once," Piripi said.

  
"Losing by 14,670,000 points is not ALMOST," Asada said. "It's just not a complete slaughter. But you weren't close. You weren't embarrassed, but-"

"You weren't close either," Sani said. "Francoise, are you good that this game?"

"Am I?" I said happily. "This is Ed's favorite game to play!"  


"Kirsten's too," Kirsten said, stepping up onto the first dancing stage. "Francoise, are you ready?"  


Still with some trepidation, I stepped onto the second dancing stage. Kirsten seemed really friendly, but I still thought that she might be messing with me. Nah, we were in the same boat! And maybe next year, the same college.

"Alright, let's go!" Kirsten said, pressing the 'Start' button. "Since we both kick ass at this game, let's both play on Expert, okay? That's the third hardest level!"

"Edward usually plays at Master...." I said, looking at the screen. "But we can play at Expert if you want!"

"Oooh, Kirsten, better watch out!" Sani quipped, grinning. "You're not so good on the Master level..."

"And you can't make it past Intermediate," Asada said. "I think Edward's pretty good at this game..."

"Oh yeah, I forgot... you wanna be called Edward, right?" Kirsten asked.

"Well, I guess it doesn't really matter, as long as you're my friend!" I said happily. _Uh... that mighta sounded kinda lame..._

"Tell ya what," Kirsten said. "You beat me at this game, and I call you Edward. If I beat you, I call you Francoise, okay? We'll even play on the Master level!"

  
"Alright, let's go!" I said. "It's a deal!"

Kirsten selected the difficulty level, then chose a song from the list of available selections. She decided on a quick-paced, pounding song called _Aishi no Heartpound_, a song which I'd never danced to before, since I preferred slower songs with more flowing beats. However, I was still quite ready to take Kirsten down.

"Let's do this!" Kirsten yelled as the first level began. As the song played and the arrows began to fall, we both moved and danced in time with the music, and our scores quickly skyrocketed.

  
"Kirsten's better on the Master level than I thought," Piripi said, staring at the screen.

  
"And this Francedward girl is good too!" Kimberly shouted. "Um... go, both of you guys!"

We continued to dance as the song went on, and neither of us missed very many steps. When the song concluded, the score stood at 15,842,700 for Kirsten, and 15,788,660 for me. 

"Whoa, not bad...." Kirsten said. "You're only 60,000 points behind, Francoise!"

"This is so exciting!" Sani said, looking at both of us. "It's so close..."

"Two more levels to go," Kirsten said. "You wanna pick the song this time?"

I nodded and scrolled down the list to one of my personal favorites, _The Mariana Ballet_. Kirsten winced slightly as I selected it.

  
"That's a really hard song to dance too," Asada noted. "Ed, are you sure about-"

  
"It's one of Ed's favorites, of course I'm sure!" I said, turning back toward the screen. "What about you, Kirsten?"  


"I'm looking forward to it," Kirsten said quietly. The song began, and immediately, I took the lead as Kirsten missed the first few steps. Soon afterward, however, she launched into a huge combo, which continued to build.

"Oh man, she's hit 60 in a row..." Kimberly said, watching Kirsten's score rise rapidly. "Ed's only reached 27... 28... 29...."

I danced my best to try and keep up, but Kirsten surged back into the lead and began to pull away, adding to her combo. Finally, when the stage ended, she had hit 103 steps perfectly, and her score showed it.

"46,850,073 to 44,122,690," Kirsten said, smirking. "I thought you liked this song, Francoise! Guess I'm better at these slow-paced, flowing songs than I thought..."

  
"I think you're doing great, Kirsten!" I said. "But watch out... Edward is guaranteeing a comeback!"

  
"We'll see," Piripi said. "I think Kirsten's got this one won!"  
  
Kirsten picked the song for the last stage, a techno version of the French national anthem, spliced in with several other song clips from what I could hear.

"_The Free France Absolution Remix_," Kirsten said. "Saving my best for last...."

"It's my best song too!" Piripi said. "I almost beat you with this song, remember?"

__

"Alright, Ed... you've gotta win this!" I thought, mentally preparing myself for this final battle.

"Ready? GOOOO!" blared the arcade machine's speakers, signaling us to begin dancing. I loosened up my muscles and began dancing on the stage, flowing along with the beat of the music. Kirsten appeared to be doing just as well as I was, and her lead shrank only slightly through the first 30 seconds of the song. The four other girls were saying things, obviously about us and our match, but I tuned them out and focused on the music, still trying to flow with the song. As my latest combo began to build, Kirsten faltered slightly, and my score inched ever closer to hers. I pulled within a million points of her score, and she began frantically trying to widen the gap, dancing with incredible determination. I ignored her and continued dancing, paying no attention to the score, or even the screen, but merely the flashing lights and the beat of the music. At some point, I did a somersault, using my hands and feet in tandem to land the beats of the music. Finally, the song stopped, and Kirsten and I both collapsed onto our dancing stages. She turned to me, sweating profusely and smiling a friendly grin.

  
"Francoise, I think you beat me..." Kirsten breathed, having been left winded by our dance battle. "Let's see..."

The machine tallied up the scores from the final round, and my eyes widened to view the final score.

"Kirsten, you got 95,878,390 points," Asada read. "And Edward got... 96,003,000!"

  
"Guess that 157-move combo clinched it, eh?" Sani said. "Wow, Ed, that was awesome!"

  
"I got a 157-move combo?" I said in disbelief. "That's 31 moves more than Edward has ever done in a row before!"

  
"I stopped counting when you beat my record of 124, Ed..." Kirsten said, still trying to catch her breath. "Congratulations!"

We stood up, and Kirsten embraced me. I hugged her back and began to giggle.

  
"Ed, you wanna come eat lunch with us?" Kimberly asked. "We're gonna go down to the food court and get some pizza... and then we're going back to play more arcade games!"

  
"That would be great!" I said, smiling. "Thank you, friends!"

"No, Ed, thank you," Asada said. "It was getting really annoying always hearing about Kirsten's 279-match Dance Party winning streak!"

The other girls began laughing. Kirsten playfully elbowed Asada in the ribs, and I hugged Asada rather tightly, causing her to giggle. Then, we walked over to the food court and sat down to eat pizza. 

__

"If there are this many friends for Edward here, Ed is gonna love this college!" I thought as we happily began eating our meal.

---

We returned back to Dejoule Hall just as the sun was beginning to set. Asada offered to walk me back to my dorm room, and I graciously accepted. 

"Well, today was a lot of fun, Ed!" Asada said as we entered my room. "Wanna come down to the arcade tomorrow and do it again?"

"Okey-dokey!" I said, walking over and sitting down at the foot of my bed. "Thanks for everything!"  
  
Asada smiled and began to walk out of my room. Just then, I gasped. I'd had so much fun with Kirsten, Asada, Kimberly, Piripi, and Sani today that I'd completely forgotten about Sylvan! As I gasped, Asada turned around.

  
"Edward, is there something wrong?" Asada asked. I shook my head.

"No, no, it's alright..."

"There's something bothering you, Ed..." Asada said kindly. "Tell me."

"Asada, do you... do you have a car?" I asked. Maybe Asada could take me to the _Fantaisie Sign..._

"Yes, but...."

  
"Could you please take Edward somewhere in Paris, please?" I asked meekly. "It is very, very important to Ed...."

"Sure.... is it a relative or something?" Asada asked. "You said you had French roots... is it that?"

"No, no, it's just a friend..." I said, extremely worried. "You don't have to, though..."

"C'mon, we'll go together," Asada said, taking my hand. "Lead the way, Ed."

"Really? You will take Edward?" I said as Asada began half-dragging me out to the parking lot.

"Of course!" she said. "I mean... what are friends for?"

---

As I navigated Asada through the streets of Paris to the _Fantaisie Sign_, I became more and more worried. What if something had already happened to Sylvan? The sun had just set, and the sky was a dark shade of blue, the moon rising in the sky.

"Okay, park there please!" I said, pointing to the parking lot of the _Fantaisie Sign_. The lot was completely empty except for two cars, one which was clearly Sylvan's, and the other I assumed belonged to his mom. Two other cars, completely jet black, were parked right in front of the ramp leading to the restaurant. My heart plunged to the bottom of my stomach, and I emitted a soft squeak of fear.

  
"What is it, Ed?" Asada said. "Hey, what are those two cars doing there..."

  
Asada parked behind the two black cars and looked up toward the _Fantaisie Sign_.

  
"Something is very fishy..." I said quietly. "Sylvan's in trouble..."

"Ed, want me to come with you?" Asada asked. "I'm kinda worried..."

  
"Asada, no... Edward does not want to drag you into this... the French syndicate is here!" I said, warning Asada of the dangers that could be inside. She gasped.

  
"French syndicate?" Asada said wearily. "Edward, what do you-"

I got out of the car and shut my door.

"Asada, please go..." I said quietly. "Please!"

"Ed, no way," Asada said. She removed the keys from her car and climbed out, locking the door behind her. "We're going in there together, and that's final."

"Asada, please..." I pleaded. "I've seen these guys, and they're too dangerous!"

Asada ignored me and began walking up the ramp leading toward the bistro. Seeing no way to convince her to turn around, I walked alongside her. Whatever danger lay inside, we were walking right into it. As we reached the top of the ramp, a neatly-dressed, tall man in a trenchcoat stepped outside the door and confronted us.

"Ladies," he said in a monotone, French-sounding voice.

  
"What's going on here?" Asada said firmly. I clenched my fists, trying to conceal the growing feeling of terror inside my body.

"We're conducting some business here, so you two ladies need to head on home," the man said. "This restaurant is closed."

I gasped. _Sylvan... no..._

---

Uh oh, the French syndicate in the _Fantaisie Sign_?What dastardly business could they be wanting to conduct? Find out... next chapter! And please please review please!


	8. Dead I Am The Sky, Watching Angels Cry

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me. 

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few (non-generic) French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

---

I was so scared... not only for myself, but for Sylvan! What could they be doing to him and his mom in there... I had to know!

"Ed," Asada whispered into my ear. "I'll distract this guy, and you go past him inside."

__

"I can't believe it! Asada, no..." I thought, stunned that Asada would offer to help me like this. I couldn't let her put herself in danger. "No... there has to be another way..."

"Ladies, I'm not going to tell you again," the man said sternly. "Get in your car and get the hell outta here!"

Asada and I quickly walked away from the _Fantaisie Sign_, toward Asada's car. Just before we got there, I stopped and turned to her.

  
"I'll find a way, Asada..." I told her. "Please, just go... I promise I'll be alright."

"Ed, no," Asada said. "There's no way I'm letting you-"

"Edward is really good at this sort of thing.... Ed's done it tons of times on Ed's bounty hunter adventures!" I said, sincerely hoping she'd believe me. "Asada, Ed will be fine..."

"But if I leave, you won't have a ride, Ed," Asada replied.

"Stay here then, in the car," I told her. "Ed will find a way in...."

"Dammit, Ed..." Asada cursed quietly, an angry look on her face. "If you're not back to this car in ten minutes..."

  
"Okey dokey thank you!" I said quickly, running from the car and ducking into one of the side alleys next to the _Fantaisie Sign. "There's gotta be some sort of back way in, right? Ed will just..."_

But before I could begin searching the side of the restaurant for alternate entrances, Asada's car horn began sounding repeatedly. The man standing by the door cursed loudly and stomped over to Asada's car. I gasped, terrified for my new friend as the large man began walking toward her car.

"Ed, now's your chance!" Asada yelled, a smile on her face. 

"Asada, I-"

"I'll be fine! You just get your butt in there!" Asada yelled. After a split-second of thought, I seized the opportunity, dashing toward the front door of the _Fantaisie Sign_ just as the large man realized he'd been tricked. But by then, it was too late. I got to the front door seconds before him and quickly ducked inside, hiding behind the large podium next to the front door as the man stormed into the restaurant.

"Where are you?" the man shouted, angrily looking from side to side. "I know you're in here, you little-"

I trembled behind the podium as the man continued looking around, angrily swearing as he checked under the tables. The lights in the restaurant were completely dimmed, and the light from the moon cast eerie shadows inside the once lively restaurant. A faint light was coming from the back of the restaurant, from the door next to the stage. I remembered immediately that the door led to the restaurant's offices... to Sylvan and his mother. My heart sunk again, and not only that, but the man searching for me was getting closer and closer by the second. He neared the podium and started to look behind it, but then turned around so that his back was even with the podium. If I stepped out and he turned around, he'd be eye-to-eye with me.

__

"Wait a minute..." I thought, my eyes lighting up slightly. _"Why am I afraid? I'm Radical Edward, world-famous bounty huntress..."_

And then I remembered a lesson from my father, given to me about two years ago. A devious grin crossed my face.

---

__

"Francoise," my father said, looking down at me. We were standing outside his trailer, and his tone indicated that he was about to tell me something important, so I listened intently.

"Is this about the birds and the bees?" I asked, smiling.

  
"I thought those bounty hunters musta taught you about that," he said. "They didn't?"

"No way, they didn't teach Ed that, silly!" I said. 

"Uh, well, I'll tell you about that some other time," my father said, smiling and rubbing the back of his head. "No, no, what I'm about to tell you is even more important than learning about the birds and the bees. I'm going to teach you how to kick some ass."

"You already taught Ed that a buncha times," I said with a slight giggle.

"Well, put all that stuff in the back of your head for now, Francoise," my dad said. "Today we're gonna learn about pressure points. Now, you mighta heard from a few other people about pressure points, but the only one you really need to know about is this one."

My dad removed his shirt and turned around, reaching over his shoulder and pointing to his lower back as best as he could.

"There's one spot, right there in the small of the back, that if you hit it juuuuuuust right, you can paralyze a guy for some time or knock him unconscious. It's a couple centimeters just left of center, and a few inches above my waist. It's riiiiiiiiight... riiiiiiiight.... darn, I need a marker or something."

I ran inside and retrieved a black ink marker from the table, then went back out and handed it to my dad. He took the marker and gently reached behind his back, making a tiny dot.

"I'm pretty sure that's it," he said. "Francoise, just this once, I want you to poke that pressure point right there as hard as you can."

"But.... Ed doesn't want to give you an owie, daddy!" I shouted, obviously having some reservations about knocking my own dad out.

"Ah, don't worry about it, it wears off pretty quick," he said. "Just do it, Francoise."

"Edward can't..." I said sadly. "Ed does not want to hurt father-person..."

"I understand," he said, his tone softening. "Francoise, you're a gentle person, and I know you don't like fighting. But I can guarantee you this move will come in handy some day."

"Ed doesn't think so...." I said. "Edward hopes she never has to hurt anyone..."

---

I would eventually betray that creed... well, I guess engaging in sparring matches with my dad wasn't really betraying it, even if I did use that move one time... it only knocked him out for three minutes, but I took it pretty hard and apologized profusely to him when he woke up. But he was right, the move would come in handy. Seizing my second golden opportunity of the last five minutes, I lunged forward and poked the man right in the spot my dad had taught me two years earlier. With a gasp of surprise, the man fell over, unconscious. I gasped and brought my hands up to my face.

"Edward... knocked him out?" I said in surprise. "That was cool..."  
  
Just then, the door to the restaurant opened again. It was Asada, tire iron in hand. 

"Don't worry, Ed, I'm-" 

I quickly leaped up and clamped my hand over her mouth, causing her to emit a muffled shriek before realizing it was me and calming down. I slid my hand away from her mouth, and she smiled, a look of relief coming over her face.

"Ed, you're okay!" she whispered, dropping the tire iron she was carrying and embracing me tightly. "But... how'd you knock out that guy?"

"Edward said she'd be okay!" I whispered. "I kicked his butt!"

"Thank God you're alright," she said. "Well, did you find anything?"

"They're back there," I said quietly, pointing toward the door at the back of the room. "See the light?  
  
Asada nodded.

  
"The stage up there probably leads to the back of the restaurant," I said. "Hopefully there aren't any bad men over there..."

"What do we do about this guy?" Asada said, pointing to the man whom I'd just knocked out.

"Leave him here," I said. "Edward doesn't think he'll be waking up for a while..."

"What if he does?" Asada asked worriedly. "We should probably tie him up or something."

I nodded, and Asada and I walked over to one of the tables. We grabbed a tablecloth, ripped it into two pieces, and used the pieces of tablecloth to bind the man's arms and legs. Then, we shoved him under the podium and began walking toward the stage.

"I'll go first," I said, climbing up onto the stage. "Ed will peek under this curtain and see if there are any bad men out here."

"Shouldn't you take this?" Asada said, holding the tire iron she had carried into the restaurant up to me. I shook my head and smiled.

  
"Edward doesn't need it, and besides, Edward probably wouldn't be able to use it anyway... Ed is a bit squeamish," I admitted. 

"You're pretty tough on your own anyway," Asada said, grinning. "Good luck, Ed."

I crawled up to the curtain and, ever so slowly, poked my head under. I looked around, and immediately heard voices coming from a hallway to my right.

"Monsieur Frémont, what should we do with ze kid?" asked one of the voices. 

"We will get to that later," came the reply, a voice whom I'd immediately recognized as the mean man from yesterday, the leader of the French syndicate, Cecelle Frémont. _If only Faye-Faye could be here... she'd go crazy... _"If Miss Mazarin decides not to cooperate, that is."

I gasped. 

__

"Sylvan and his mom are still alive!" I thought immediately, with a great deal of relief. It was immediately overtaken by a crushing sense of fear. _"But... those mean men are hurting them..."_

I crawled out from the curtain and turned my head toward Asada.

"See anything?" she whispered.

  
"No, but Ed heard something..." I replied quietly. "The bad men ARE here... and they might be hurting Sylvan!"

"That's terrible," Asada said. "Your poor friend..."

  
Asada lifted herself up onto the stage and brandished her tire iron fiercely.

"Asada, no..." I said. "We have to be careful... we have to find Sylvan and help him and his mom, and-"

  
"Then let's go," Asada said, rolling herself under the stage curtain. Seeing no alternative, I followed her, and soon, we were both in the back of the restaurant. I could hear the voices of Frémont and his henchmen very clearly, and a new wave of panic swept over me.

"The bad men are that way..." I said, pointing to the right. "But there's a hallway to the left... they might have Sylvan there!"

"Should we split up?" Asada asked.

"No, let's stay together..." I said quietly. "Strength in numbers... let's go to the left first."

We slowly began creeping toward the left hallway, looking around in all directions for any of Frémont's henchmen. Finally, I peeked around the corner and peered into the corridor, ready for anything. 

"Ed...." Asada whispered. "Anything?"

At the very end of the hallway was a single henchman, standing in front of a door. I quickly pulled back my head so that he wouldn't see me.

  
_"Oh, oh, oh, I hope he didn't see Edward..." _I thought, sweat pouring down my face. Suddenly, I heard a grunt from the back of the hallway, and rapid footsteps. "He saw me... he saw me... he saw me!"

"Ed, quiet!" Asada whispered sharply, "Oh crap..."

The man ran out of the hallway, and I immediately leapt forward with a swift kick to his stomach, causing him to groan and double over. I recoiled in shock, but Asada was completely ready to land the finishing blow, cracking the man on the back of the head with her tire iron and knocking him out. Voices began coming again from the right hallway.

"What ze hell was that?"

"I don't know, was it ze kid escaping?"

"Go check it out," Frémont said sternly. "If it is, Miss Mazarin will suffer dearly..."

I gasped. Asada began pulling me down the left hallway. 

  
"Ed, c'mon!" Asada said urgently. "The door's clear! We can save your boyfriend now!"

"But what about Sylvan's mom?" I protested as Asada pulled me towards the door, completely ignoring the boyfriend remark. Asada quickly opened the door and pulled us both inside, shutting it behind her.

"We can help her out later," Asada said. "Hey, this room's pretty dark..."

Before I could reply, a weak groaning noise reached my ears. I quickly flipped on the light switch by the door, and gasped as I saw the unconscious Sylvan lying on the floor, his hands bound behind his back.

"Sylvan!" I shouted frantically, running over to him and untying his bonds. "Are you alright? Sylvan..."

Slowly, his eyes fluttered open. He groaned again and rubbed his head, blinking at me as I slowly lifted him into a sitting position.

"Ed....ward.... is that.... you?" Sylvan asked, looking into my eyes.

"Oh, Sylvan, I'm so glad you're okay..."

Another wave of relief swept over me, adding to the emotional roller-coaster of the past twenty minutes. I smiled happily at him, and he smiled back at me.

  
"Ed, you shouldn't be here..." he said seriously. "Frémont came back..."

"Gee, we sure didn't know that, Einstein," Asada said sarcastically. I frowned at her.

"Asada, Sylvan's been through a lot..." I said, slightly embarrassed about my new friend's sarcasm. "Sylvan-"

"I'm fine, Ed," he said, standing up. "All they did was knock me out... and they took my gun."

"You have a gun?" Asada said, surprised. "Well, _had _a gun."

"Ed, is my mom okay?" Sylvan asked me in a concerned tone. "Is she-"

  
"She's fine for now, but we'd better hurry," I said. "The mean men are-"

"Incoming!" Asada shouted right as two of Frémont's henchmen burst through the door. Sylvan and I immediately turned and got into fighting stances, ready to take the two henchmen on.

"Ed, these guys are dangerous!" Sylvan shouted. "You can't-"

  
"It's three-on-two," I said, smiling. "Edward likes those odds!"

However, I gasped as both men suddenly reached for their waists, most likely for guns. Asada responded by swatting one of the men across the face with her tire iron, causing him to scream out in pain and clutch his nose, which began bleeding profusely. I ran at the stunned henchman and headbutted him in the chest, causing him to fly back and slam into the nearby wall. The other man got his gun out, but barely had time to blink before Sylvan kicked it out of his hands, then spun around and kicked the man hard in the face, knocking him to the ground. 

"Bastard," Sylvan said, picking up the henchman's gun and pointing it at his head. "I'll show you to-"

  
"Sylvan, no!" I shouted, lowering the gun in Sylvan's hands. "Don't kill him..."

"But they... they're ruthless, Ed!" Sylvan replied.

"Ed's right," Asada said. "Just knock them out or something... the police can arrest them later!"

"I guess... I guess you're right," Sylvan said, lowering the gun. "Besides, we've gotta go help my mom!"

I smiled.

"Thank you, Sylvan," I said. "You did the right-"

Suddenly, a strong arm came around me from behind. One of the men, I couldn't tell which, had caught me in a headlock. He pulled me back, and Sylvan again lifted his gun.

  
"I wouldn't," the henchman said. "Unless you want to zee your beautiful friend's brains splattered!"

I growled. 

__

"There's no way I'm gonna let you use Ed like that, you meanie!" I thought. Lifting up my left arm, I slammed my elbow into the man's stomach, knocking all the wind out of him. He doubled over, and I slipped from his grasp and ducked away. Before I could catch my breath, I heard a loud gunshot. The man let out a pained gasp, then collapsed to the ground. "Sylvan, no!"

Sylvan held the smoking gun in his hand, a look of concern on his face.

"Ed, I-"

  
"Sylvan didn't kill him," Asada said. "Look."

  
She pointed to the man's knee, where a large, smoking gunshot wound had just been formed. I looked back up to Sylvan.

  
"Ed, I didn't want to kill him," Sylvan said. "It was a crippling shot, not a fatal one."

I smiled and nodded at Sylvan.

"Spike-person shot people too," I said understandingly. "I was just a bit... not used to seeing it anymore, I guess... and you didn't kill him, so that's good!"

"Well, we kicked their butts," Asada said. "Let's go save your-"

But before Asada could finish, tall, trenchcoated Cecelle Frémont stepped out from around the corner, his long cape-like coat flowing around him.

"What ze hell is going on here?" he shouted, walking toward us and reaching toward the inside of his trenchcoat with his black-gloved hand.

"Where's my mom?" Sylvan shouted back, pointing his gun at Frémont's head. "You'd better tell me where she is right now!" 

Frémont grinned, and began pulling something from his trenchcoat. When I saw what it was, my eyes widened in stunned surprise. It was a large, metallic object, and it glimmered, even in the weak lighting of the back rooms. 

"What... is that?" Asada asked. 

In Frémont's right hand was a large, crescent-shaped blade. It had no handle, and appeared to be about three feet from one tip of the crescent to the other. He continued walking toward us, the crescent blade giving him an even more menacing presence. Even Sylvan stepped back slightly.

"Sylvan, be careful," I said fearfully. 

"Ed, gun vs. sword always comes out better for the person holding the gun," Sylvan said, and memories of the first time I'd been told of Vicious and Spike's alleged gun/sword battle immediately came to my mind. "Stay back!"

Cecelle continued to advance toward us, until he had reached the edge of the narrow hallway. That's when Sylvan fired, right at Frémont's head. I gasped and closed my eyes.

__

"That's it," I thought. _"Sylvan killed him..."_

But immediately after the gun fired, I heard a loud, plinking noise. I looked up and saw Cecelle standing unharmed, and I immediately began quivering in fear.

"The... hell?" Sylvan said, stunned. "How did you-"

  
Cecelle smiled and held up his crescent-blade. _There's no way... he blocked it? No one has reflexes like that! How-_

"Crescando is superior to any weapon," Cecelle said in a cold, calculating voice that sent shivers down my spine. "And any person."

With a flick of his wrist, the large blade came screaming toward us, spinning at impossible speed. It whizzed right between Sylvan and I, and then suddenly, I heard a loud, piercing scream from behind me. I gasped, immediately recognizing the scream as Asada's. I looked up to see the blade right back in Cecelle's hand. 

"Damn," Cecelle said angrily. "It's so hard to throw this thing in the dark."

I turned back, toward Asada, and saw her kneeling on the ground, her hand over her left eye. Her glasses were on the ground, sliced in two near the screw that connects the left earpiece to the left lens. A stream of blood was dripping from behind her hand, and as she moved her, I could see a large gash right above her left eye, crossing her eyebrow. Tears were pouring from her eyes.

"It hurts..." she cried through racked sobs. 

"Asada, I'm so sorry..." I said, hugging her in an attempt to alleviate some of her pain. She hugged me back with one arm, keeping her other hand over the wound. 

"How dare you!" Sylvan shouted angrily. "She barely even hurt you, Frémont!"

Frémont laughed and charged at Sylvan, crescent blade in hand. Sylvan pointed his gun at him again, but was quickly caught off-guard by a slash from Frémont's blade. He leapt back, dropping the gun in his hands. Frémont laughed and picked up the gun, tossing it into the nearby room where Sylvan had been imprisoned earlier. I began to suggest that Sylvan run in and retrieve the gun, but I knew that doing that would leave him open for an attack from Fremont's blade. Just as Sylvan began to attack Fremont again, Frémont's fist slammed into the side of Sylvan's face, knocking him back hard against the wall. I screamed as Sylvan passed out from the collision and slumped against the wall next to the three unconscious henchmen, lifeless. My rage began to build.... _He's hurting Ed's friends... Edward isn't going to take it anymore! This guy is toast!_

"Pathetic," Frémont said. "Looks like I'll have to kill your mother and you."

"No!" I shouted, standing up and confronting Frémont. "Edward has had ENOUGH!"

Frémont's eyebrow lifted slightly, and I knew I'd surprised him. Breathing heavily, I continued my rant.

"You won't hurt Ed's friends anymore... Edward will-"

Suddenly, my world came crashing down. Frémont's left fist plowed into my stomach, and I could no longer breathe. I stumbled back, gasping for air.

"Are you quite through talking?" Fremont said in an annoyed tone. "Good."

He roughly picked up Asada and placed his large crescent-shaped blade to her throat. Her face was still soaked with tears, and the large gash above her eye continued to drip blood.

"Asada...." I said weakly, regaining some of my breath. "Don't...."

"Now, are you going to cooperate with me, or not?" Frémont asked. "Go in that office and wake Miss Mazarin up. I knocked her out after you pathetic kids did the same to my henchmen. Tell her to get out here if she wants her impotent son and his whimpering friends to live."

"I'm already here," came a familiar voice from behind me. I turned around to see Sylvan's mother standing in the right-side hallway. "Please... I'll do anything you want, just... just let them go."

Frémont threw the sobbing Asada over next to Sylvan and the three unconscious henchmen and smiled. I quickly ran behind Frémont and scooped up Asada and Sylvan into my arms, holding them close and praying that we'd all be alright. Tears began to stream from my eyes.

"You know the deal then," Frémont said. "Fifty-one percent of everything this place makes goes to me from now on. I'd kill you, but then I'd be killing the beautiful voice that's going to make me a lot of money from now on. In exchange, I leave, and as long as the payments continue, there will be no more incidents like this. Understand?"

"Yes...." Sylvan's mother replied, tears streaming down her face. "Please... please go..."  


Frémont smiled and slowly began walking out of the hallway, toward Sylvan's mother. He walked toward her until he was nearly three feet away, and she began to tremble. Then, he casually walked up to the edge of the stage. 

"Remember, fifty-one percent," he said. "Or I can no longer guarantee your safety. When you call the authorities to cart off my hapless henchmen, this was all just a violent robbery. Don't even try to send them after me. I think we both know how that would turn out."

  
Frémont put the sword back in its sheathe and walked through the stage curtains. We didn't know if he'd left the restaurant until we'd heard him walking out the front door. When he did, Sylvan's mother collapsed to the floor and began sobbing violently. I walked up to her, but she waved me away.

  
"Edward, call the police... call 911, we need the hospital and the police... hurry, before any of those horrible men wake up!"

I quickly obliged, dashing into the office and dialing up the emergency number on the office's videophone, which thankfully hadn't been disconnected. As I dialed, still sobbing, I could only hope that Sylvan and Asada would be okay... and that I'd never, ever have to see that horrible man again...

---

Poor Edward! ;_; I'm sorry for such a dark chapter... but now all of you have a good idea about just how vicious and mean Cecelle Frémont is! The review button is a good place to bash him. Or praise him, if you root for the villain, heh... 


	9. All The Times That We Have Been Through,...

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me. 

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few (non-generic) French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

---

The police arrived quickly, with an ambulance right behind them. As the officers began loading up Frémont's men into a paddy wagon, uniformed ambulance workers began tending to our wounds.

"Are you sure you don't wish to come to the emergency room?" asked a neatly dressed woman as she bandaged Asada's wound. 

"No, I'm fine, really," Asada said. "It doesn't hurt that much, and it's really not that severe..."

  
"You should probably go just to make sure!" I advised her, concerned about the large wound she had sustained right above her eye.

"Ed, really," she said, pulling a small plastic case out of her pocket. "It's just a good thing I always carry my contact lenses with me...."

"If you ask me, you look prettier in glasses," Sylvan said kindly, holding an ice pack to his forehead. Asada smiled at him.

  
"Oh, I do, do I?" she asked. "Well, if you want to fix my glasses for me, go right ahead...."

Asada winked at Sylvan. Sylvan chuckled, and I felt relieved. Sylvan and Asada were already well enough to crack jokes... that was a good sign. I was just glad Fremont's men hadn't hurt them badly...

"Well, if none of you wants to go to the hospital, then our job is done," the head paramedic said, turning to his staff. "Let's roll."

As the cops and paramedics drove away, Asada and I walked back over to Sylvan's mother.

"Oh, Edward, Asada, I'm so very sorry you got caught up in all this," Sylvan's mom said regretfully. "If there's anything, and I mean _any_thing I can do...."

"It's quite alright, really!" I said, trying to do the best I could to make her feel better. "Ed is just glad that you and Sylvan and Asada-person weren't hurt..."

"That's right," Asada said. "I'm pretty sure I'll be fine..."

"Asada, I'm especially sorry that you were hurt..." Sylvan's mom said, beginning to cry. "I mean, you got cut, your glasses were broken, Frémont held you hostage..."

"Really, I..." 

Asada paused for a second, and her face took on a slightly fearful look. Her lip quivered.

"Asada, are you okay?" I asked, walking up to her.

"Just... I'm just fine, Ed," Asada said, turning back toward me. "We should probably head back to the college..."

"I'm going to stay with my mother tonight," Sylvan said. "We live nearby, I'll drive her to her home. You two just get a good rest... you've been through a lot."

I nodded.

"So have you, Sylvan..." I said seriously. "Those bad men... they hurt you..."

"Don't worry about it, Ed," Sylvan said, smiling. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay? We can meet at six and go out for dinner somewhere, okay? Anything that will help get our minds off of this evening... Asada, you can join us if you want!"

"No, no, that's alright..." she said, still a bit nervously. "I already had something planned, but thank you!"

After hugging Sylvan and his mom one last time, Asada and I left the _Fantaisie Sign _and walked out to Asada's car.

  
"Asada, are you sure you can drive?" I asked, concerned that with everything that had happened still fresh in her mind, Asada wouldn't be able to drive home... of course, I was probably as nervous as she was, since nothing like what I had just been through had ever happened to me before, not even on the Bebop!

"You know how?" Asada asked, looking into my eyes.

  
"Yeah, Ed's dad taught Ed to drive a long time ago!" I said, and it was true. My dad taught me to drive his truck when I was fourteen, and even before that I'd already driven several other kinds of vehicles. I didn't have a license, but Asada didn't have to know. Unless she asked...

"You've got a license, right?" Asada asked. _Uh oh. _I began to open my mouth to confess that I didn't, when she interrupted me with "Oh, I'm sure you do, you're a smart girl! Thanks for offering to drive us back..."

Again I wanted to confess, but I decided that what Asada didn't know couldn't hurt her... unless I crashed, but I wasn't going to let that happen. I climbed into the driver's seat, and Asada got into the passenger's side next to me. I started the ignition and drove back toward the campus.

---

Navigating through the streets of Paris and following the on-board map computer, I made it back to New Parisian Liberty with little difficulty. Asada didn't say very much as we drove back, and neither did I, still a bit in shock over the events of the past few hours. We pulled into the parking lot of Dejoule Hall and exited the car.

"Well, I guess it's time to tell you.... Edward doesn't have a license," I said as I handed her back the keys to her hovercar.

"You... don't have a license?" Asada said, blinking. "Ed, you lied to me?"

"Edward was going to tell you, but... Ed still felt really bad about what happened tonight and Ed didn't want to burden you with having to drive back here, and-"

"I can't believe it!" she said, tears coming to her eyes. "What if a cop had pulled us over? They could have had my car towed! Or it could have been worse! What if we had crashed?"

"Asada, I'm sorry," I said, scrambling to find something to tell my friend.

  
"Look, Ed, next time you should tell me these sorts of things!" Asada shouted. "Like how you should've told me today I could have been killed! You let me go in there without even letting me know that I could lose my life!"

Of course, she was wrong... I told her about the French syndicate, and she still wanted to go in and face them... but I wasn't going to say anything. I knew we'd both been through a lot... I was lucky that my friend was still alive, I shouldn't expect her to be the same happy person she always was, at least right after the incident.

"Ed, I'm just under a lot of stress, okay?" Asada said, starting to walk toward the building. "I mean, I just had a damn four-foot knife to my throat! So lay off."

Asada walked up to the door and started to go inside.

"Wait!" I yelled, calling out to her. "Please, Asada... I'm sorry!"  


"Good night, Ed," Asada said sternly. "See you tomorrow. If I'm still alive, anyway."

I felt terrible... my new friend probably hated me, and it was all my fault! I ran into the building and looked around for Asada, but it was too late. She'd already gone into her dorm. I sighed and trudged up the stairs to my own room, hoping tomorrow would be better than today had been. 

---

After calling my dad (not telling him about my recent life-and-death struggle at the _Fantaisie Sign_, I'd save that for later), I flopped down onto my bed and tried to forget about the day's events. 

"Ed's just glad that's all over... but... Ed just hopes Sylvan and his mommy will be alright... and that Asada will be Ed's friend again..."

Still feeling guilty, I started to turn on the TV, but stopped. 

__

"I should try to talk to Asada again," I thought. _"I need to tell her I'm sorry..."_

But before I could even get out of the bed, there was a knock on my door. My eyes lit up. Had Asada come back on her own? I quickly got up and happily walked over to the door.

"Thank goodness," I said to myself. "Ed just hopes Asada has forgiven her..."

But when I opened the door, it wasn't Asada at all. It was the girl that came to my room in my very first day here.... she had been so mean to me the first time, I wondered if she'd come to apologize? She'd brought two of her friends, apparently... but something wasn't right. The three girls all had mean scowls on their faces, causing me to recoil back toward my bed. The ringleader wore a blue tanktop with dark blue denim jeans.

"Can Edward... help you?" I said meekly.

  
"Yeah, Edward can help me. By getting her fat, usurping ass out of our dorm right now!" the first girl shouted. 

"Excuse me?" I said, taken aback. "That wasn't very nice..."

"Look, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way," said one of the girl's friends, who wore a bright red letter jacket.

  
"And you _wouldn't _like the hard way," said the other friend, who wore a dirty-looking schoolgirl outfit. "Do we make ourselves clear?"

"I'm sorry, but this is Edward's dorm," I said to them. "So please leave, okay?"  


"It looks like you're too dumb to understand what we mean," the letter jacket-wearing said. "Well, let's just show you!"

  
"Wait a minute, you're the three mean girls that trashed Ed's stuff yesterday!" I shouted, instantly drawing the connection between them and what had happened to my clothes after I went to sleep on my first night here. The three girls smirked.

"Yeah, it was us," said the girl in the blue shirt. "And now we're gonna do this!"

  
The blue-shirted girl pushed me back toward my bed, causing me to stumble. I barely kept my footing, and I clenched my fists, preparing for the girls' next assault.

  
"Edward is only gonna warn you meanies once... stay out of Ed's room!" I shouted. The three girls began to laugh. 

"That's it, get her!" the blue-shirted girl yelled. The two other girls ran at me. Not wanting to hit them, I fell to the ground and rolled between the legs of the girl wearing the schoolgirl outfit. I stood up next to the blue-shirted girl, pushed her out of the way, and ran out of the room. The blue-shirted girl quickly got up and pointed at me.

  
"After her!" she shouted. "We'll teach her a lesson!"

__

"Geez, I can't avoid danger today!" I thought. _"I can't believe this!"_

I ran down the hallway as the three girls chased me. Suddenly, a hand reached out and grabbed me by my shirt. The hand pulled me through a door and gently shut the door behind me. Looking around as the light in the room flashed on, I realized I was in a storage closet. 

"What's going on?" I said. "Who-"

  
"It's me, Ed! Kirsten! Remember?"  


__

So it was Kirsten who pulled me in here! I smiled as I looked at the face of my savior, Kirsten. Three other girls were in the room.

  
"Piripi! Kimberly! Sani!" I said, seeing my three friends in the closet. "Boy, is Ed glad to see you three!"

"There's like, six people who are attacking the touring kids," Piripi said. "They actually left Sani and Kimberly tied up in here!"

  
Sani nodded.

"They were gonna make an example out of us or something," Kimberly said. "Kirsten, Piripi, and three other kids found us. We sent those three out to get campus security, and we're just hiding in here."

"I'm pretty sure it's just a bunch of pranks that are getting out of hand," Sani said, "but we don't want anyone to get hurt. What happened to you, Ed?"  
  
"Three of them came into my dorm and attacked me!" I said. "But I got away."  


"Well, you are pretty flexible, Ed," Kirsten said. "I mean, you're a great dancer, right?"  


Kirsten giggled.

  
"Hey, wait," Piripi interrupted. "Where's Asada at?"

  
I gasped.

  
"Asada and Ed kinda had an argument, and she went back to her dorm," I admitted. 

  
"You think she could be in danger?" Kimberly said.

"Of course she is!" Kirsten shouted. "We all need to go and check on her!"

  
I nodded.

  
"Asada's had a really rough day today," I said.   


"What kind of rough day?" Piripi asked. "Like... a bad hair day?"

"No, no, it's.... well, Ed really doesn't want to talk about it," I said, trying to change the subject. "Let's just go find her!"

Slowly, Kirsten opened the closet and peered out into the hallway. I half-expected to see the three mean girls, roaming about and looking for us, but was relieved when there was no one outside. Kirsten quietly signaled for us to step out into the hallway.

"Okay, Asada's in Room 217, which is just down this hall," Kirsten said. "Remember, there's strength in numbers, so _stay together_!"

As we walked down the hall to Asada's room, we looked around from side to side, watchful of the hostile students that were roaming around. When we finally got to Room 217, we all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Okay, now when we get in, we've got to be ready for anything," Kirsten said. "They could all be in here, doing terrible, mean things to Asada! So be ready to kick some butt!"

__

"Wow, Kirsten's thinking exactly the way Edward is," I thought. _"She's one swoooooookie girl!"_

But when we opened the door, we were greeted with a different kind of surprise.

"Hold on a second, okay, Curtis?" Asada said, sitting on her bed and talking to a very handsome blonde-haired boy with a very easy to notice goatee. She got up from the bed and walked over to us. "Hey, guys... what brings you all here?"

"Are those the other new kids?" asked a black-haired girl standing next to the bed. A boy was with her, smiling at us. He wasn't as handsome as Curtis, but he was okay-looking, with short brown hair and a stubbly beard. Asada nodded and gestured us into the room.

"Asada, who are these?" Kirsten asked. "Did they come here to escape too?"  


"Actually, we're part of the gang," Curtis said. "We came in here to trash Asada's room, but... ya know, she's so beautiful! I couldn't go through with it."

"Stephanie's gonna be so pissed," said the black-haired girl.

"Oh, screw her," the other boy said nonchalantly. "We never should have started this crusade against the touring students."

"It was my idea... well, mine and Stephanie's," Curtis admitted. "She's my girlfriend, you see..."

"Wait, is Stephanie the girl going around with the other two girls?" I asked curiously. 

"Yeah, she is," Curtis said. "She's really been having a vicious streak lately... I just wanna have fun, but now this whole 'initiation' thing is getting out of hand."

  
"I'll say!" Kimberly shouted. "Stephanie and her posse tied up me and Sani and left us in a closet!"

  
"She was going to spray us with spray paint, but the cans she and her friends were carrying were empty," Sani said. "And then our friends found us."

  
"You tell your dumb girlfriend to leave us alone!" Kirsten shouted angrily. "We've got every right to be here, and-"

"Kirsten, please," Asada said quietly. "Curtis knows that now..."

"Hey, what the hell's going on here?" shouted a voice from behind us. The other girls and I turned around to see Stephanie and her two mean friends standing in the doorway.

"Curtis, why haven't these girls been taught a lesson?" Stephanie said angrily. 

"Look, Asada's already been through too much tonight," Curtis said, pointing at Asada's bandaged eyebrow. "She was in a robbery!"

"I don't care if she was in the middle of the Gate Disaster, we need to teach these dumb new kids a lesson!" Stephanie shouted. "They can't just get away with invading our dorm like this!"

Curtis started to say something, but was interrupted when Kirsten stormed up to Stephanie and got right up in her face.

"Look, you stupid slut, you're not gonna get away with attacking MY friends!" Kirsten shouted, standing eye-to-eye with Stephanie. "You wanna teach me a lesson? Huh? Huh?"

"Let's take this outside!" Stephanie shouted. Kirsten smiled a devilish grin.

  
"You're on!" Kirsten replied. Kimberly, Sani, and Piripi began chanting 'Fight!' over and over again, and soon, Curtis and his two friends began chanting it as well. Even Asada joined in, her spirits lifted by the long conversation that her and Curtis apparently had. 

__

"Ed can't let this happen... Edward doesn't want to see Kirsten get hurt!" I thought. _"Even though Stephanie might be vicious, all these pranks and stuff are supposed to be for fun, right? And now it's going to turn into violence..."_

I pushed my way inbetween Kirsten and Stephanie, determined to stop the confrontation.

"Please, don't!" I shouted. "Edward doesn't want to see either of you get hurt... can't you work this out some other way?"

"Ed, let me handle this," Kirsten growled through clenched teeth. "Sani and Kimberly are my new friends too, and I have to get revenge for what that bitch did to them!"

"Aw, the little pink-haired wimp doesn't want to get blood on her pretty clothes, is that it?" Stephanie said tauntingly. "You know, I think I'll just warm up by fighting you!"

Before I could react, Stephanie gave me a hard shot to the nose with her fist, sending me reeling back. Piripi caught me, and I could feel a slight trickle of blood coming from my nose. Kirsten went into a rage.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Kirsten shouted, diving on top of Stephanie and knocking her to the ground. "Eat this!"

Kirsten punched Stephanie hard in the mouth, then began pummeling her several more times before the other two girls grabbed Kirsten and pulled her off of Stephanie. I could barely see through the fracas, so I struggled to my feet and ran outside to get a closer look. Stephanie's two friends had grabbed Kirsten's arms and were holding her back as Stephanie crawled to her feet.

"Those punches hurt, you know!" Stephanie screeched angrily, spitting out a tooth. _Wow... I didn't know Kirsten was capable of that..._

"Lemme go!" Kirsten shouted, straining against the two girls holding her. Asada, Piripi, Kimberly, Sani, and I began to rush out to help Kirsten, but Curtis quickly dashed ahead of us and ran out to Stephanie.

  
"Stephanie, just stop!" Curtis pleaded. "We've already done enough damage as it is-"

  
"No!" Stephanie yelled. "There's no way I'm letting this slut get away with what she did! Now, are you gonna help me, or not? C'mon, hit her! Show her not to mess with your girl!"

Curtis walked up to Kirsten, who was still struggling to break free from the grip of the two girls holding her.

"Curtis, no!" Asada shouted. "Please, think about this..."

"Stephanie, you... you're not my girl anymore," Curtis said, turning to her. "Not if you're going to be like this."

"What?" Stephanie replied. "You... you're breaking up with me?"

"Hold it right there!" shouted a campus security officer as he ran down the hall toward Stephanie. Stephanie's two friends dropped Kirsten and started to run, but were quickly stopped by three more officers. In all, four security guards came. They quickly apprehended Stephanie and the other girls, and I breathed another sigh of relief, what I figured to be my ten billionth of the night.

"Wait, officer!" Stephanie shouted, pointing a finger at Kirsten. "She hit me too! She knocked out one of my teeth! Arrest her too!"

"I didn't see anything," Piripi said. "Did you guys?"  


"I didn't see nothin'," Asada said casually.

"No, wait," Kirsten said, stepping forward. "She's right... I did hit her. Several times."

"But it was only to protect me!" I said, not wanting Kirsten to get arrested. I pointed at Stephanie. "That mean girl hit Edward right in the nose!"

"Well, right now it's just the three young ladies under investigation," said one of the security officers. "If the other young lady only struck back to protect herself or others, then it's not a crime. And, from the way you guys are telling it, there's a lot going to support that theory."

  
"I should probably go with them too," Curtis said.

  
"Yeah, us too," said the black-haired girl who had been with Curtis.

"Me too," said the stubbly-bearded boy. "We were pulling pranks too."

  
"Yeah, but you didn't actually hurt anyone," Asada said. "Officers-"

"Look, for now it's just the three girls," said the officer again. "We'll be launching an investigation of our own in a few days. You kids just get some rest, alright? There's nothing to see here."

The four security guards escorted Stephanie and her two friends away. 

  
"Well, that was exhilarating!" Kirsten said, looking down at her knuckles. "Ouch, I'm gonna need a couple of bandaids..."

Kirsten walked over to me.

  
"Ed, are you alright?" she asked me. "Stephanie hit you pretty hard..."

"Ed is fine!" I said, smiling. I was telling the truth, my nose had stopped hurting a little while ago, but it was still bleeding slightly. Piripi handed me a towel, and I gently shoved it up my nostrils. Piripi giggled.

  
"Hee, you look funny like that," she said, smiling. "Not that you getting hurt is funny or anything!"

"Ed knows what you mean!" I said happily. "I'm just glad that everyone else is okay!"

"Well, this is the last time I'm ever pulling a prank on anyone," Curtis said. "Too many people could get hurt..."

"Don't feel bad, Curtis," Asada said, putting her hand on his right shoulder. "You were just... just misled. Your intentions were good! Well, sort of, anyway."

  
"And I feel bad about Stephanie," Curtis said sadly. "We've been together for four months, and I just... hate to see it end like this..."

  
"She was mean," Piripi said. "You don't need someone like her anyway!"  
  
"And every ending is really just a new beginning... right?" Asada said sweetly, staring up into Curtis' eyes. "It'll be okay, I promise."

"Asada.... thank you," Curtis said. "I know I'll be okay now."

  
"You guys are just too sweet!" Kirsten said happily. "So like, are you guys gonna go out now?"

"Kirsten!" Asada shouted, playfully nudging her. "The guy just lost his girlfriend, give him a break!"

Curtis started to laugh, and then everyone in the room began to laugh as well, including me. After being so fearful and afraid just an hour ago, I was happy... happier than I'd been since I'd gotten to Paris. I'd gained so many new friends today, and Asada was happy again. _It can only get better from here..._

---

Or can it? Well, of course! Ed would never lie! But what if it DID get worse? Would Ed really be a liar? Eh, I'm not the philosophical type. I'm the type who likes to read nice reviews! ^_^ Hope ya liked the latest chapter! 


	10. My Darling, You Were Wonderful Tonight

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me. 

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few (non-generic) French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

Review Section: Returns next chapter! ^_^ I promise!

---

"Are you guys sure this dress looks nice on Edward?"

"Sure, I'm sure, Ed!" Sani said as I stood in front of the mirror in my dorm room. "It looks wonderful!"

"Sylvan is just gonna flip when he sees you, Ed!" Kirsten said, smiling. 

It was the day after the incident with Stephanie. The time was 5:45, just fifteen minutes before Sylvan was supposed to come and pick me up for our date. I was getting ready with Asada, Kirsten, Piripi, Kimberly, and Sani, and they seemed to be having just as much fun as I was as they tried their best to make me look extra beautiful!

"How much was this white dress anyway, Ed?" Piripi asked. "I'd love to have something like this!"

"Piripi, it's rude to ask someone how much their stuff costs!" Kimberly said. 

  
"But I'm curious!" Piripi whined.

"It was 140,000 wulongs!" I said. 

"Holy cow, that's a lot of dough!" Kirsten said as she brushed my long, red hair. "Your dad must have given you a ton of money to spend here..."

"Yeah, Ed..." Asada said, kneeling down and adjusting some of the straps on my heeled shoes. "He sure makes an awful lot of money for a crater-chaser..."

"Actually, Ed got this money from Ed's friend Faye-Faye!" I said. "Ed told you guys about Faye-Faye yesterday, remember?"

"Oh yeah, I remember her," Kirsten said. "She sounds pretty cool..."

  
"You're a lot like Faye-Faye, Kirsten!" I told her. "I'm sure she'd love to meet all of you!"

Of course, I couldn't actually introduce them to Faye-Faye. Maybe I could call her up some time and have all of my new friends talk to her... I'd really love for them to meet her someday, though. And Jet-person too!

"Well, Ed," Asada said, standing up. "Shoes are ready!"

"And your hair is too," Kirsten said, putting the brush back on my desk. "Take a look!"

I gazed into the mirror and gasped. I'd never looked so beautiful! My hair was shimmering from something that Kirsten had sprayed into it, and the lights in the room shined on it, making it glow with an elegant radiance. My cheeks were rosy, even rosier than usual, and they gave my tanned face a warm, pinkish glow. My eyes were beautifully highlighted with eyeliner, and Piripi had groomed my lashes to make them absolutely dazzling! My lips were lined with red lipstick, and I wore the stunning white dress that I had bought back at the Neo-Eiffel Tower. I never knew how beautiful it looked until I actually put it on somewhere outside of a dressing room, as its elegant patterns and silky tone shined. My nails had been painted a beautiful shade of crimson, and I wore a pair of soft, clear pantyhose that also shimmered as the light shone on them. Finally, I wore a pair of soft white socks and beautiful, heeled white shoes. For the first time in my life, I felt like a goddess... an incredible vision of beauty. _If only Faye-Faye and daddy could see Edward now!_

"Oh, everyone... Ed is so beautiful!" I squealed, looking at myself in the mirror. The other five girls cheered gleefully. "Thank you thank you thank you soooo much!" 

  
"Ed, like Kirsten said, Sylvan is just going to be absolutely giddy when he sees you!" Kimberly said. "He is gonna like, die!"

"Yeah, he won't know what to say!" Sani said. "Um, let's see..."

"Oh, Edward, mon petite le chere..." Kirsten said deeply in a badly-imitated French accent and badly imitated French. "I am... how you say... very very horny."

"Oh, Kirsten, stop!" Piripi said, giggling.

"I think Sylvan's more polite than that," Asada said. "And less perverted."

"Hee, I think Asada's right!" I laughed through stifled giggles. "But that was pretty close!"

"It's 5:55," Piripi said, looking at the clock on my desk. "Only five minutes until he gets here..."

  
"We'd better go outside to meet him!" Sani said. "Plus, I want to see his face when he sees you, Ed!"

"Edward shouldn't keep Sylvan waiting!" I said. "Let's go!"

  
The six of us rushed out of the room and ran down the stairs, then through the door and out into the parking lot to wait for Sylvan.

"So, Ed, where are you guys planning to go, anyway?" Kirsten asked.

"Well, probably to a restaurant, and then to a movie!" I said. 

"Oooh, a romantic French movie!" Asada said. "No one makes romantic movies like the French!"

"Ooh la la, dinner and a movie," Kirsten said, again in a mock French accent. "And then a little snookie snookie afterwards?"  


I giggled.

  
"You mean kissing?" I asked. "Well, we might kiss... Edward has never been kissed before, actually!"

Obviously, the time on the Bebop when Faye tackled me and pressed her lips against mine didn't count. I meant romantic kisses!

"I don't think Kirsten meant kissing," Piripi said.

"Of course I did! What did you think I meant? Get your mind outta the gutter!" Kirsten shouted. We began laughing again.

  
"Um, I knew she meant kissing!" Kimberly said.

  
"But Piripi didn't," Asada said, giggling.

  
"Of course I did!" Piripi replied. "I.... look, he's coming!"

We all turned around. Sure enough, Sylvan's car was just coming into the parking lot. Excitedly, I waved at him. Through the windshield, I could see him waving back, though the sun had already set. Sylvan pulled up next to me and smiled.

"Bonsuir, mi ami!" Sylvan said, lowering his window.

"What did he say?" Kirsten whispered to me.

"Good evening to you too, Sylvan!" I replied. "Ed is ready for a magical evening!"

"Ah, I see... my goodness, Ed, you're looking absolutely radiant tonight! You're dressed up and everything!" Sylvan said.

"So are you, silly!" I said, noticing that Sylvan was wearing a handsome black tuxedo with a black bowtie, and as I looked down at his feet I could see that he was also wearing neatly-shined black shoes. "You look so handsome!"

"That's him?" Sani said, pointing. "Ed, you're so lucky!"

"My boyfriend back home is more handsome," Kimberly said. "Well, a little... I miss him."

"And who might these ladies be?" Sylvan asked me, gesturing toward Kirsten, Asada, and the other girls.

  
"Those are Edward's new friends!" I said, smiling. "You already know Asada, and there's Kirsten, Piripi, Kimberly, and Sani!"

"I see!" Sylvan said. "Well, it's wonderful to meet you all!"

I waved goodbye to the girls, then walked over to the passenger side of Sylvan's car and climbed inside. I leaned over and gave him a small kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush.

  
"Wow, I didn't expect that!" Sylvan said, starting the car. "So, shall we?"

I nodded.

"Ed, you have to tell us everything when you get back, okay?" Kirsten shouted.

"Ed promises she will!" I said, smiling. "Bye bye!"  


Sylvan pulled out of the parking lot and quickly drove off the campus, heading down the freeway toward downtown Paris.

"So, Sylvan... where are we going tonight?" I asked him. 

  
"Well, is there anyplace in particular you'd like to go?" Sylvan asked me. "I pretty much had dinner and a movie planned, but if there's anywhere else..."

  
"Well, Edward still wants to go up to the top of the Neo-Eiffel Tower... it's fixed now, right? Maybe after the movie Sylvan and Ed could go up there!"

"Alright, we'll do that then!" Sylvan said happily. "It sounds incredibly romantic!"

"Ed agrees," I said. 

---

Once we got the restaurant, a small, fancy little place that was pretty close to the Neo-Eiffel Tower (we had an excellent view of the first and third legs), we quickly went inside and sat down. Sylvan had already made reservations, and we were led to a small, decorated table close to a window. The table was round, and I sat across from Sylvan. A tiny candle was glowing at the center of the table.

"It's been a long time since I was last here," Sylvan said wistfully. 

"You mean with your last date or something?" I asked him.

  
"No, much longer than that... I was here with my mom and dad... when my dad was still alive, anyway."

  
"That's more than ten years ago!" I said. "It's incredible that you can remember something like that..."

"I remember my dad quite a lot," Sylvan said, sighing. "He and my mother loved each other very much..."

"I remember my mom, too," I said, a slightly serious tone in my voice.

"I'm sure if she was still alive, she'd be ecstatic to see the beautiful, intelligent young woman you've become, Edward," Sylvan said. I smiled at his comment, and I couldn't help but feel a bit charmed. Sylvan couldn't be just pulling this comment out of nowhere... somehow, from the tone of his voice and the look in his eyes, I knew he was sincere. 

"Sylvan, I... I don't know what to say," I said softly. Sylvan's face became a bit worried.

"Ed, did I say the wrong thing?" Sylvan said. "Maybe that was a bit too-"

"No, Sylvan," I said, putting my finger up to his lips. "That was... that was so sweet of you, I-"

"Monsieur, madmoiselle, I am ready to take your order," said a waiter in a thick French accent. Sylvan and I turned our heads toward him, and we relaxed back into our seats.

"Oh, okay," Sylvan said. "Well, let's see... how about... I'll start with the seasoned chicken on a plate of spiced vegetables, with lemon on the side."

"Excellent choice, sir... and for you, madmoiselle?" the waiter asked. I gazed at the menu for a few seconds, then made my appetizer selection.

"Breaded mozzarella slices on a glazed salmon, please!" I said, setting my menu down again.

  
"Your appetizers will be here shortly," the waiter said. "May I offer you a selection from our fine wine list?"

"No, not tonight," Sylvan said. "Just the appetizers for now, please."

"Ed will have a highly-carbonated cranberry soda... that is non-alcoholic, right?" I asked.

"That is correct, madmoiselle," the waiter said. "I will return."

After the waiter left, Sylvan and I began talking again.

"So, Ed... tomorrow's the big day, right? The tour of the campus and the interview with the Dean of Admissions?"

I nodded.

  
"Ed can't wait to find out if she's going to go to your college," I said excitedly. "I just hope I get to stay in the same dorm with you!"

"The same room?" Sylvan asked.

  
"No, no, no, no, just the same building, silly!" I said. "You know what Edward meant!"  


"Well, I'm sure you'll do just fine tomorrow!" Sylvan said. "Monsieur Depardieu talked to me about you yesterday... he said that some of your test scores were astounding!"

"Did you tell him to put Ed in Dejoule Hall next year?" I asked.

  
"Well, I actually never mentioned it...." Sylvan said, slightly embarrassed. "Maybe I'll see him some other time, then I'll tell him."

"Okay!" I said. "So, Sylvan, you stayed with your mom all day?"

Sylvan nodded.

  
"She's still a bit traumatized over the whole French syndicate thing... some thugs came to get the first of the money today," Sylvan said. "I actually had to pay them with my money, since mom was almost out... uh oh."

"Uh oh what oh?" I said in a worried tone.

"Ed, I'm, um... out of money," Sylvan said. "This is _not _good."

"Oh, ye of little faith... Edward has plenty of money!" I said, happily. "Faye-Faye gave me lots and lots and Ed still has lots and lots left! Ed will pay for tonight, okay, Sylvy-person?"

"Wow, Ed... no, you don't have to... I promise I'll pay you back, okay?" Sylvan said, now _really _embarrassed. 

"Sylvan only has to pay half the money... we're going Dutch, right?" I asked, smiling at him.

  
"I didn't plan it that way, but... okay, Ed, we'll each pay half, then."

  
"Crisis averted!" I said happily, just as the waiter reached our table with the appetizers.

"Here are your appetizers," the waiter said, setting several plates down on the table. "I'll be back to take your main course orders shortly."

The waiter left, and we began quickly eating our delicious appetizers.

---

The rest of the meal actually went rather quickly, as we finished our appetizers and main courses, all while talking at the same time. 

"And then Kirsten just started punching her, over and over," I said, eating the last of my fluffy pink strawberry cake that I was having for dessert. I knew I probably shouldn't be talking about this kind of thing at a fancy restaurant, so I made sure to be extra-quiet. 

"I'm just glad you're feeling okay, Ed..." Sylvan said. "I mean, you got punched right in the nose..."

"Ed's nose is just swookie!" I said, poking it gently with my finger.

"Well, just to make sure...."

  
Sylvan leaned over, and before I could say anything, gave me a quick little peck on the tip of my nose. As his lips touched my skin, I couldn't help but feel a slight tingling sensation going through my body... but I didn't tell him that. He sat back down in his chair, and I giggled slightly.

"Oh, Sylvan," I said, giggling. "It feels a whole lot better now... thank you!"

"Sorry if I was a bit forward," Sylvan said, blushing. 

"Sylvan, you're sooooo romantic," I said, exaggerating a bit. I wasn't swooning for him, I was just playing around. Still, I'd never played around like that before with anyone... but I could tell it made him happy, which made me happy as well! 

"Here's your bill," said the waiter, setting a small tray with our bill in it on the table. _Geez, killjoy, you sure have a bad habit of interrupting Edward's swookie romantic moments..._

"Let's see here... my gosh, 86,828 wulongs?" Sylvan said, stunned by the amount of the bill. "Geez..."

  
"Ed will handle it!" I said, taking out my cash card and handing it to the waiter. He scanned the card in a small, portable scanner attached to the tray, and handed it back to me. "Wait, here's a tip!"

I scanned the card in the scanner again, deducting 13,172 more wulongs for a total of an even 100,000 wulongs spent on the meal.

"Merci beaucoup, madmoiselle," the waiter said, walking away from the table.

"Well, that was a wonderful meal," Sylvan said.

  
"Thank you for bringing me here," I said, nodding in agreement. "Let's go to the movie now, okay?"

---

__

"Oh, I love you so much..."

"I love you too, more than anything..."

  
The man and the woman kissed. Suddenly, a large laser beam blasted a hole in the man's chest and causing him to fall dead. The woman turned to face another, larger man, standing behind them.

"He has been terminated," the larger man said.

After the dinner, Sylvan and I had gone to see _Terminator 5: The Machines Strike Back, Special 60th Anniversary Edition_. Neither of us really wanted to see a romantic movie, and Sylvan was an action movie fan, which surprised me... and delighted me, since I liked action movies too.

"Poor guy," Sylvan said regretfully.

"Oh, don't worry," I told him. "The lady... well, Ed doesn't want to spoil it for you!"

"I guess we should watch the rest of the movie," Sylvan whispered. I nodded back to him.

---

"Well, here we are," I said as Sylvan and I walked into the lobby of the Neo-Eiffel Tower for the second time in the last three days. "Edward just hopes we can go up to the top this time!"

"Yeah," Sylvan said. He walked over to a uniformed security guard. "Is the observation deck open today?"

  
"Sure is, it just opened up again this morning," the security guard said. "Are you planning to go up there? The view is beautiful."

Sylvan nodded and turned to me.

"I've been up there lots of times, but Ed's never been, so I'm taking her," Sylvan said.

"We're on our first date!" I said quickly.

  
"Well, have fun, kids," the security guard said politely. Sylvan and I walked over to one of the elevators and stepped inside. He pressed a blue button marked "Observation Deck" in both English and French, and soon, the elevator was quickly heading for the top of the Eiffel Tower.

"How beautiful is it, Sylvan?" I asked him.

  
"Oh, it's absolutely wonderful," Sylvan said. "You can see for over a hundred miles... the tower itself is 4,990 feet tall, but the observation deck is up 4,921 feet, almost a mile. It's the thirteenth tallest building in the Solar System and the tenth tallest on Mars... it's really, really high."

"Edward isn't scared of heights!" I said, gazing out the window and watching as the elevator went higher and higher, the buildings becoming smaller and smaller beneath us. "Wow... even the skyline's starting to look small..."

"We're almost there," Sylvan said. "This elevator goes pretty fast..."

  
Finally, the elevator stopped, and I could hear a quiet dinging noise. We stepped out of the elevator and went down a small hallway until we reached a large, wooden door with a gold plate above it that read "Observation Deck". Sylvan opened the door for me, and I stepped inside, Sylvan following close behind me.  


"Wow..."

Sylvan was right... the view was absolutely beautiful. The observation deck was a large, round room, with transparent hyperlexan walls all around that allowed a beautiful view of the city. There were so many lights, and we were above all of them... I could even see a few of the very low clouds below us. Several other tourists were in the room, looking out at the city or viewing information about the city or the tower at various information stations located throughout the room. But I was fixated on the city...

  
"Sylvan, this is... it's so... it's incredible!" I stammered, barely able to find words. "Wow..."

"You like it, Ed?" Sylvan said, smiling warmly at me.

  
"Oh, Ed loves it!" I said. "When I'm at college next year, I'm coming here every single day!"

"Wow, not even I love it _that _much," Sylvan said. "It is beautiful, though... but... not as beautiful as you, Edward..."

  
"Oh, Sylvan..."

My heart fluttered. _That look... he... no, it can't be, he... _

"Sylvan, I... thank you for such a wonderful evening, Sylvan..."

"Thank you, Edward... I've only known you for a few days, and we've experienced so much together... you've been my friend, you saved my life..."

"Sylvan..."

I didn't know what to say anymore. As he took my hand in his, I squeezed it slightly, sweat beginning to run down my palm. My feet, my hands, and my lips trembled as he leaned in close to me. His eyes were so beautiful, and filled with affection... and as our lips met, I knew... 

__

"He loves me," I thought. _"Oh my god, he loves me..."_

I wrapped my arms around his chest and pressed my lips to his. I closed my eyes and let the moment overtake me, and it seemed like there were a million specks of light circling around us as we continued the kiss for at least three or four more seconds. Finally, his face pulled away from mine, and slowly, we released each other, our arms falling to our sides. 

"Edward, I... I love you," Sylvan said. "I don't know how to explain it, but I-"

"Don't, Sylvan..." I said, looking straight into his eyes. "Ed is pretty sure she loves you too... yes, very very pretty sure!"

---

"Well, Ed... it's been a wonderful, wonderful evening," Sylvan said to me as we stood outside my dorm room. "Thank you for everything."

  
I nodded back at Sylvan.

  
"Thank you, Sylvan," I said. "You're a very romantic person! And don't worry, Ed loves you too, really!"

  
Sylvan kissed me briefly on the lips.

  
"_Bonne nuit, mi belle ange..._" Sylvan said softly.

"_Bonne nuit, mon beau prince..." _I replied. He kissed me once more on the cheek, then walked back down the hall to his dorm room. _What a wonderful evening..._

As I stepped into my room, strong hands quickly grabbed me and pulled me over to my bed. Suddenly, my arms were pinned down, two sets of hands holding them in place. I started to scream, but then noticed Kirsten standing over me.

  
"Okay, Ed... tell us everything!" she said deviously. "Or we'll..."

  
"Tickle torture you!" Piripi said, holding up a feather duster. I began to giggle, noticing Asada and Sani holding me to the bed.

  
"Okay, okay!" I said, giggling as Piripi began to tickle me. "Ed will tell you, just let Ed catch her breath, okay?"

Sani and Asada moved away, and I sat up, smiling.

  
"Geez, you guys scared Edward to death!" I said, still giggling.

"Sorry, we probably shouldn't have been so rough..." Kimberly said. "So, what was Sylvan like?"

  
So, I began to tell them everything that had happened during the evening, while Kirsten, Asada, and the others listened patiently.

"You guys kissed?" Kirsten said. "Awesome! Was it a... French kiss?"

"Oooh, French kissed by a handsome French man, how romantic!" Piripi said. 

  
"No, it was just a really long kiss!" I told them. "And then..."

  
"Then what happened?" Asada said eagerly. "Tell us tell us!"

"No, it's a secret!" I told them, not exactly ready to tell them that Sylvan loved me yet.

"Oh, c'mon, Ed..." Sani said, pressing me for more information. "Did you kiss again?"

"Did you guys do it?" Kirsten asked, semi-jokingly. Asada playfully slugged her on the arm.

  
"Kirsten, lay off the estrogen supplements, girl," Kimberly joked.

  
"Well, he.... he said... he said he was in looooooooooove with Edward!" I said, deciding not to make a serious deal out of it. That way, they wouldn't have to know he seriously did love me.

"Oh, he did, did he?" Kirsten asked. 

  
"How romantic!" Asada said dreamily.

"To think, a love born in the city of lights.... it's too romantic to even think about without feeling all tingly!" Piripi said. 

  
"We're happy for you, Ed... so, when are you guys going out again?" Kirsten asked.

  
"He didn't say," I told them. "Ed will talk to Sylvan again tomorrow, okay?"

"And kiss him again, right? Right?" Sani said. "You've gotta kiss him again!"

The girls and I continued talking, late into the night. They didn't leave until... I think it was something like three in the morning. This had definitely been one of the best days of my life! But I couldn't help wondering... Sylvan loved me. But did I love him as much? Did I love him at all? Of course I cared for him, but.... I guess I'd just have to sleep on that question. _Though Edward probably won't sleep a wink tonight... thanks a lot, girls..._

---

Hee, that's it for this chapter! Wasn't that romantic? Aren't Ed's friends awesome? Isn't Sylvan awesome? Isn't Ed awesome? Aren't _I _awesome? ^_^ Review away!


	11. Everything Is Gone, There's Nothing That...

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me. 

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few (non-generic) French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

Reviewer Thank-You Section (I'll try to thank as many of you as I can, if I don't get to ya this time I will next time, okay?)-

Ummyeah: Yep, Terminator! ^_^ Glad you liked that little pop-culture reference...

NessacusGirl: Thanks for reviewing all those chapters! Hee, you like Piripi's name, huh? I think it's kinda cute too, heh... thanks for reviewing!

  
Katers: Sylvan's pretty cool... but you can't have him, only Ed can have him! ^_^ J/K, I'm sure he'd like you too! Thanks for reviewing!

GiveGodtheglory: Yeah, Applederry would've beaten the crap outta Fremont... but he doesn't know about him, hee... 

Ondraya Onion: Thanks for reviewing! Yeah, it was tough aging Ed... I hope I'm still doing a good job!

Wolfsong: Okay, I'm writing more... Ed wants me to write a ton... the power of Ed compels me! ^_^ Thanks for reviewing!

Ocelot: Yeah, all that romantic stuff in chapter 10 was pretty quick... I'm trying to have most of the attraction to be on Sylvan's end for a while, so they both don't get caught up in the romance and it doesn't seem rushed. Thanks for reviewing!

Saberpilot: Thanks a bunch! It's been pretty tough balancing Ed's character quirks and her seventeen-year old maturity...

---

I woke up the next morning, and, as I expected I would be, I was tired. Very tired. _Never ever stay up talking with friends until three in the morning, Edward, okay?_

"Schleeeepy schleepy schleepy..." I said, standing up and rubbing my eyes. I gazed at the clock by my bed. "Ungh... ten thirty? The tour and the interview start at nooon.... poor sleepy Edward..."

Stumbling over to the mirror, I took off my nightclothes that I'd hastily put on last night after my new friends left and put on a decent-looking green shirt and a red mini-skirt, an outfit which I was pretty sure I'd look nice in for my interview. Then, I slipped on some white socks, put on my tennis shoes, and headed out the door.

---

"So, you're tired too, Ed?" Kirsten asked. I'd met up with Kirsten at the campus food court, where she was just sitting down to eat breakfast. I didn't see Asada or any of the others with her, though. "I guess staying up so late was a bad idea, huh?"  


"Don't worry about it, Kirsten," I said, smiling. "Ed is slooooowly slooooowly waking up!"

"Well, anyway, Asada and Curtis are working out together in the gym. She got up pretty early, but then again, she told me she doesn't really like sleeping, anyway. Piripi is in the arcade doing who knows what, and Kimberly and Sani are probably still sleeping."

"Yikes, are you gonna go wake them up?" I asked Kirsten, not wanting either of them to miss any of the day's events and then not get to go to college because they overslept. That would be terrible!

"I probably should," Kirsten said, sipping from a carton of orange juice. "Then again, I don't think the admissions committee is going to mind them missing the tour. It's just a boring walk through the college... well, that's what I've heard from other people who've taken it, anyway."

"Ed wouldn't call the college boring!" I said. "It's so pretty... with trees, and water, and lots of people, and beautiful buildings, and-"

"It's boring to me, Ed," Kirsten said nonchalantly. "I'm not really interested in the whole 'nature' thing, ya know? But it's okay if you're more interested in it than I am... I'm just giving you my perspective, okay?"

"Ed understands!" I said, trying to be as friendly as possible. Faye-Faye would probably say the same thing, anyway. 

"I knew ya would see where I was going with this, Ed!" Kirsten said. "Um... you sure put a _lot _of brown sugar on those breakfast crépes. Or is that cinnamon?"  


"Cinnamon!" I said. Kirsten had been referring to the large stack of crepes that I'd piled on my plate to eat for breakfast, and the large pile of cinnamon on top of them. "Crépes are yummy!"  


"I'm more of a cereal person myself," Kirsten said, pouring some milk on a bowl of Callisto Flakes that she'd bought. "But you're really getting into this French culture thing, aren't you?"  


"Edward just like crépes," I said, digging into my breakfast. The college's crépes weren't nearly as good as the ones from the _Fleur De Trois_, and they didn't even have any cherry syrup to put on them! But with the cinnamon, it was still pretty good.

"I wonder if I'll be able to tell everything about a person just by knowing what they eat for breakfast," Kirsten said deviously. "You know, once I get into a psychology class and all."

"I don't know if they teach that sort of thing," I told her. "But if you find out, tell Ed everything you know about people who like crépes!"

"Will do, Edward!" Kirsten said, giving me a thumbs-up. "Hey, look!"

I turned around to see Kimberly and Sani walking toward the food court area. Smiling, I waved toward them.

  
"Kirsten thought you guys overslept," I told them. "We were gonna come wake you two up!"  


"No need for that," Kimberly said, smiling. "What's up, guys?"

"We really talked a lot last night, didn't we?" Sani asked, yawning. I nodded at them.

"Well, that's okay... Ed enjoyed getting to talk to you guys!" I said as they sat down at our table. "Did you already eat breakfast?"

"Yeah," Kimberly nodded. "I fixed myself some pancakes in my dorm."

"And I got a box of cereal," Sani said. "So, Edward, about last night... are your lips still tingling?"  


Sani's words immediately brought me back to last night, and Sylvan's kiss and declaration of love for me. Wow, it was only a day ago? I still hadn't really thought about it...

"Um... well, yeah!" I said, stumbling to find a suitable answer. "I still can't believe I kissed an actual French guy."  


"Ed, you're so lucky!" Kimberly said. "Remember, though, part of that kiss belongs to us. I mean, we're the ones who made you look all pretty, right?"

Kimberly began giggling, and I knew that she was just saying that to be funny. I began giggling as well.

  
"Edward doesn't think there's such a thing as a sixth of a kiss, Kimberly," I told her. 

"Well, I hope you see him again today... he's probably in class or something, so you won't see him on the tour. But after the interview and all that stuff, you have to go back and see him again!" Kirsten insisted. "Or maybe he'll come to you... bringing flowers, or chocolate, or flowers AND chocolate, or chocolate flowers, or-"

"Don't worry, Kirsten, it'll be Ed's number one priority to visit Sylvan today!" I said. "I can't wait!"

---

After breakfast, we immediately met up with Asada and Piripi outside the food court. I saw Curtis for a second, but he had to leave because he had a class to get to. After he left, the five girls and I began walking toward the administration building.

"We're supposed to meet with the others in the lobby," I said. "That's where the tour's going to start!"

"I don't know why they don't just interview us," Kirsten said. "I mean, we could take tours on our own."

  
"They want to point out all the important stuff, Kirsten," Piripi said. "Plus, there are a lot of places we can't go on our own... you know, not open to the public."

"I guess that's true," Kirsten said. "Well, as long as they make it interesting..."

"Well, here we are!" Asada said as we walked up the steps to the administration building. She opened the door, and we all walked inside. 

The lobby wasn't very crowded, as there were only about ten or twelve other students that were going to be taking the tour, and it was a pretty big lobby. A friendly, neatly-dressed man was also standing in the lobby. I guessed him to be pretty young, probably his late twenties, and by the badge on his shirt I knew that he was a faculty member of some kind, although I couldn't quite make out what the badge read. After about a minute, in which I introduced myself to a few of the other college hopefuls, the man began to speak.

"Bonjour, and welcome to New Parisian Liberty College!" the man said jubilantly. "My name is Bradley LeChec, and I'm the vice director of the administrative committee here at NPL. I'm also here to be your tour director today, and I'll be showing you around, basically taking you everywhere that you're going to want to go once your college experience starts next year. The tour will last approximately an hour and a half, and after the tour is done, I'll be taking you back here so that you can take part in your admissions interviews. If you have any questions along the way, feel free to ask!"

"I have a question," said a tall young man standing next to me. After Bradley acknowledged him, the young man began to speak. "Have you heard about the recent incidents involving many of the enrolling students at Dejoule Hall?"  


"Yes, and those involved in perpetrating those acts were dealt with by the campus authorities, so hopefully there won't be any more incidents of that nature," said Bradley.

__

"My thoughts exactly," I thought, glad that none of my friends had been harmed.

"Well, if there aren't any more questions, let's begin the tour, shall we?" Bradley said. "Please follow me."

Bradley walked out of the lobby of the administrative building, and all of us followed him. After making the first few stops at the various research centers, empty classrooms, and recreational facilities, we entered a large building with a sign that read "DeGaulle Memorial Fieldhouse" posted above the entrance.

"This is the basketball arena, where our Group 1 team plays its games," Bradley said as we walked through the halls of the building. Posted on the walls were pictures of other basketball stars, and several trophy cases also lined the building. 

"I went to a game a couple of days ago," whispered a girl nearby. "They're not really that good."

"I'm usually more into Neo-American college basketball, said a boy next to her. "These French players stink."

__

"Well, that isn't a very nice thing to say!" I thought, but kept my thoughts to myself. _"I just hope Bradley didn't hear you two."_

"And here's the court," Bradley said, pushing open a large door in front of us and following us all onto the hardwood floor. I looked around and saw a large scoreboard hanging over our heads, and thousands and thousands of seats spread throughout the arena. "The fieldhouse seats 23,898 people, and this place can get pretty loud during some of the games, believe me!"

"I wouldn't want to sit in one of those seats all the way up there," Asada said to me, pointing toward the very tip-top rows of seats. "You could get a nosebleed sitting up there like that!"

"I know," I said, nodding my head. "Ed doesn't really like watching basketball, though. Playing it is fun, but watching it is kinda boring..."

"I agree," Asada said, smiling at me. We walked around the hardwood floor, having nothing to do because Bradley had given us a five minute break to sit down or look around the arena. 

"So, how's everything going with you and Curtis?" I asked, rather curious about Asada's new friend.

"Curtis?" Asada said, a bit nervously. "Oh, um, well...."

"Tell me, tell me!" I said eagerly, not wanting Asada to dodge my question.

"Did I ever tell you that when he's working out, he's absolutely the cutest thing?" Asada said, smirking. "He sat down on the weight bench, and took off his shirt, and he started bench-pressing, and he got all sweaty and... oh, I'm not going to say anything else!"

"Why not?" I said. "Ed can tell you like him..."

"What? Me? Oh, no, no, we're just friends!" Asada said defensively. "I mean, he just broke up with one girlfriend, he's not ready to have another..."  


"So you _want _to be his boyfriend," I said.

  
"Ed, that's not-"

"Alright, let's get back on the tour," Bradley said loudly. "We've still got a few more places to go, let's hurry up!"  


The kids on the tour, as well as Asada and I, walked over to Bradley, who was standing by the entrance to the basketball court. When we had all reached him, he began to speak again.

  
"Again, if you have any questions about this place, don't hesitate to ask," Bradley said. He received no reply. "No questions? Alright, let's roll."

"Ed, like I said, Curtis and I aren't together yet... but I do like him," Asada said quietly.

"I knew it!" I replied happily. "I knew you two belonged together!"

"Well, I haven't asked him yet..." Asada said.

"Why not?" Piripi asked, turning her head toward us as we left the fieldhouse. "Asada, Curtis _so _digs you. I just know it!"

"Yeah, Asada... ask him out!" I said. "You won't regret it, Ed promises!"

  
"Well, okay, okay, I'll ask him out before we leave the college in a few days. See, that's just it, I don't wanna ask him out and then leave him until college starts next year..." Asada said, a hint of sadness in her voice. 

"I guess I hadn't thought about that," I replied. "Well, Ed's sure you guys can work something out..."  
  
"Mm-hmm," Sani said. "And Ed and Sylvan too..."

__

"Oh geez, Edward really _hadn't thought about that! What's Edward going to do when Ed has to leave Sylvan in a few days... that cannot be good at all..."_

---

"Well, this is the last stop of our tour!" Bradley said, leading us to a large, domed building. "This is our college's observatory, where we have a telescope so that we can look out to the stars! If you're planning on going into astronomy, you might want to check this out. Normally it's not open to the general public, but today you'll all get to take a quick look into the telescope if you want!"

"Oooh, sounds like fun!" I said, eagerly walking into the building with the others. 

"This really could be interesting," Kirsten said. "Eh, maybe this tour's not so bad after all..."  
  
"Told ya," I said, smiling at her. She smiled back.

  
"Okay, okay, Ed, you were right... you get to take the first look inside the telescope," Kirsten said. 

"Uh, too late, guys," Kimberly said, pointing toward the small line of about six or seven kids who had lined up to take a look through the telescope. I quickly took my place in line behind them, and pretty soon, it was my turn!

"Ed, what do ya see?" Kirsten said, trying to look into the telescope's viewing lens at the same time as I was, even though it would be impossible to do that.

"Hmm... lots of stars..." I said. "They won't let Edward change the settings to look somewhere else."

Gazing around the viewing area that I could see, I spotted a large bright spot near the upper left corner. Looking closer, I realized what it was.

  
"It's a supernova!" I said excitedly, having seen one while stargazing with my dad a couple of years back. "It's really bright!"

I stepped aside and let Kirsten peer through the telescope.

  
"That's pretty cool!" she said. "Now I know why they won't let you change the settings..."

"If someone changed them, you might not be able to see the supernova anymore," Asada said. "Good call."

"It took us quite a while to find that one," Bradley said, standing next to Asada. "One of our seniors found it, actually. Needless to say, he got a good grade that quarter."

"I'll bet!" said one of the other kids. "I've never actually seen a real live supernova before... that was pretty cool."

  
"Well, has everyone looked into the telescope?" Bradley said. After getting a unanimous 'yes' from everyone in the room, including me, he said a few more words, then led us back to the administrative building to conduct our interviews.

---

Since there were sixteen kids, they split us up into four groups, where each of the groups would be interviewed by a different school official. I was in the group that would be interviewed by the dean of admissions himself, Joliet Depardieu, whom I'd met earlier. As the interviews were conducted, I sat outside the dean's office in the same waiting room that I'd waited in before, with the same mean secretary who had been so rude to me earlier. This time, she didn't say a word to me, which I thought was at least a bit better than having to deal with someone being stern to me. I was the last one to be interviewed, and right now, I was waiting for Kirsten to conclude her interview, which had lasted for about twenty minutes by my count. In all, I'd been waiting for about forty-five minutes to an hour. Finally, Kirsten stepped out of the office and gently shut the door behind her.

"How'd it go?" I whispered, standing up.

  
"It was interesting," Kirsten replied. "Well, I was interesting, that's what he said. But it's a good interesting, I think, and he said he really liked my test scores, so I probably did well. I guess I'll find out in a couple of days, huh?"  
  
"Couple of days?" I asked inquisitively. 

"Yeah, he said we'd be finding out if we were accepted or not in a couple of days," Kirsten told me. "Well, good luck, Ed!"  


Kirsten gave me a hug, then walked out of the waiting room. 

__

"Well, here it comes, Ed... get ready," I thought, trying to mentally prepare myself to enter the room. _"Remember, no craziness and no third-person and everything will go just swookie!"_

I opened the door and entered the office. Depardieu smiled at me as I came in.

"Miss Appledelhi, it's nice to see you again," he said, extending his hand to me. "Would you like to sit down?"  
  
I obliged, and shook his hand as I sat down in a large, comfortable chair across from him at his desk.

"Francoise, have you seen these?" Depardieu asked, pulling a manila folder out of his desk and laying it down on the table. He opened up the folder, and held out several pieces of paper to me, which I immediately knew to be test results. "You got a perfect 3000 on the New Consolidated Aptitude Test, you know."

"I've seen these before," I said, leafing through the papers. "I really didn't expect to do that well... I was shooting for a 2950!"

Depardieu began to chuckle as a smile crept onto my face.

"You blazed through your correspondence courses, and the essays you submitted to us were incredibly well-written," Depardieu said. "My first question to you is this... what drives you to be such a brilliant scholar?"  


I stopped to think for a second, and then gave my answer.

"Well, I didn't receive very much education as a little girl, and my father wasn't very supportive of me at first, because my mom died when I was young and he was grieving for quite some time... so I had to learn what I could from all the different sources around me. I taught myself by researching everything I could by computer, and when I was fourteen I began taking the correspondence courses because I knew I wanted to go to college."

"I see.... so you have an intense desire to learn," Depardieu said. "It's refreshing to see a young person like yourself take such a large interest in the world around them. What brings you here, exactly?"

"Well, I want to meet new friends and find out what I'm good at," I said frankly. "Hopefully I'll be able to find myself a career that I want to be in!"

"You mean you haven't thought about a career yet, Francoise?" Depardieu asked, a bit stunned. 

"Well, I've thought a little bit, but it's been really hard for me to decide...." I said.

"Is there anything at all you're leaning toward?" Depardieu asked. Again, my mind scanned for something to say. I decided I'd give him the honest answer, as best as I could.

"A few years ago, I traveled with a group of bounty hunters in space for a period of about two months," I said. "Getting to help them out and chase bounties was really exciting for me, and I know that's not exactly a good career path, but... well, it's really the only one I've been interested in!"

"Bounty hunters?" Depardieu asked incredulously.

"Well, it's a really long story..." I said, "but I assure you that I really did learn a lot of things by traveling with them!"

"Tell me, Francoise, has this experience ever made you think about a career in the legal system, or maybe one in aeronautics?"

Well, that was a surprise... it didn't take him very long to link bounty hunting with a couple of reputable career paths... paths that I hadn't really thought of taking before.

"You could become a lawyer, you could work for the ISSP, you could be a spacecraft technician, a spacecraft designer, a police dispatcher... ever thought about any of those careers?" Depardieu asked.

  
"Well, now that you mention it... not really," I admitted.

  
"Francoise, what are your other interests?" Depardieu asked me, leaning forward slightly in his chair.

"I've always been really good with computers..." I said. "Programming, repairing, hacking, that sort of thing... _ugh, shouldn't have said 'hacking'...._"

"Computers, eh?" Depardieu said. "That's a fine career path. But... computer hacking? Like... what kind of hacking? Francoise, you do know that's illegal..."

"I know, I know," I said, beginning to get a bit nervous. "I never mean to do any harm, it's mostly for fun...."

"Well, there _is_ a career in computer hacking," Depardieu said. "Quite a profitable and rewarding one, actually. It ties in with the government... have you ever heard of technological espionage, Francoise?"

"You mean... hacking for the government?" I asked, having heard a bit about it before from Jet-person.

  
"Yes, that's precisely what I mean," Depardieu said. "Colleges typically don't train in that field, though."

  
"Well, I want to learn some new skills in college," I said, trying to get the subject off of hacking. "I've pretty much learned all I can about computers..."

"Well, Francoise, there are certainly a multitude of exceptional courses here at NPLC that I promise you will find very rewarding," Depardieu said. "And with a brilliant mind and incredible drive like yours, I know you'll be successful in your endeavors."

"That's very kind of you to say..." I said, a bit flattered. "I'll really take some time to figure out what courses I want to take."

  
"Well, here's something to help you get started," Depardieu said, handing me a neatly-packaged computer disk. "This informational and interactive video disc has a large number of resources that can help you, Francoise. It will tell you everything you need to know about any course that you might be interested in taking here."

"Thank you, sir," I said as I took the disk. 

"Well, that about wraps it up, Miss Appledelhi," Depardieu said, standing up to shake my hand again. I stood up and firmly shook his hand. "If you have any more questions, feel free to come here and talk to me anytime. I'm really looking forward to seeing you here again, Francoise."

"You mean... I made it?" I said, my eyes lighting up with excitement. 

"Well, I still have to go through the committee, but I'm 99.99% sure you'll be attending this university next fall," Depardieu said frankly.

"Thank you, sir!" I said, almost ready to jump for joy. "You've made Ed very happy!"

I lifted my hand up to my mouth. _Oops... _

"Oh, that reminds me," Depardieu said, smiling. "Do you want me to call you Francoise or Edward? Either one is fine with me."

  
"Um... well, just whatever you'd like, sir!" 

"I'll go with Francoise, since it's such a pretty name," Depardieu said. "I've got a cousin named Francoise, you know. Most of your friends call you Edward though, right?"

I nodded.

"Um, Mr. Depardieu... you talked to Kirsten a little while ago, right?" I asked. "How did she do? Is she getting into college too?"

"If I have anything to say about it, yes, your friend will be attending this college too," Depardieu said. "She's a very clever young woman."

"Okay... what about Asada, and Piripi, and Kimberly, and Sani?" I asked quickly, getting a bit ahead of myself.

"Well, I only remember interviewing Kirsten... I'll put a good word in for the others, alright?" Depardieu said. "Don't worry, most of the people invited here eventually get in. We invite only the very best for the interview and the tour. The vast majority of our applicants don't get this opportunity, you know. Only the best and brightest get a direct invitation."

  
"I see... so that's why there were so few people on the tour," I said. "Well, thank you, this was very enlightening! It was nice talking to you!"

"Nice talking to you too, Francoise," Depardieu said. "I'm really looking forward to seeing you here next fall!"

I waved goodbye to the dean and left the room. Kirsten met me in the secretary's office.

"So, how'd it go?" Kirsten asked.

"It went wonderful!" I told her. "Ed is getting in for sure! Well, 99.99% sure, anyway!"

  
"That's great!" Kirsten said. "Did he say anything about me?"  


"Well...."

"He did?"

  
"He said you're very very clever and if he has anything to say about it you'll be in, Kirsten-person!"

"Yes!" Kirsten said, pumping her fists into the air. "Alright!"

  
"If your business is done, you need to leave," said the secretary sternly. Giggling, we both walked out of the room.

---

Kirsten and I met back up with the others in the lobby of Dejoule Hall.

"The guy I talked to says that I've got everything it takes to be an excellent scholar," Asada said proudly. "It must have been all that studying I did in high school!"  


"My interviewer was a woman, and she said that I reminded her of her when she was my age," Piripi said. "That's always a good sign, right?"  


"I think I talked to the same lady you did, Piripi," Sani said. "She said I'm the best essay writer she's ever seen!"

"Well, my interviewer was a guy, and he said that I'm an excellent dramatist," Kimberly said. "I am _so _taking theater at this college."

"I think we're all going to get in!" Kirsten said happily. "I just hope we all live in the same dorm."

"Maybe we can be roommates!" I said. "But Ed doesn't want to choose between the five of you..."

"That's okay, we'll draw straws or something so we won't have to choose," Asada said. "That's probably the fair way to do it..."

"Yeah," Sani said, nodding in agreement. "I'm just glad I got to meet so many nice people here..."

"So, Ed, are you gonna go talk to Sylvan now?" Kirsten asked.

  
"Yeah, Ed, you've gotta go talk to him!" Asada said. "And kiss him again!"

"Ed has to go put this disk up right now," I told them, stalling for time. I didn't want to talk to Sylvan again just yet... "Ed will be right back, okay?"

I ran up the stairs to my room and took out my room key. But just before I could get the door open, a voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Miss Appledelhi?" said the voice in a heavy, male French accent. I turned around to see a tall, muscular, blonde man in a leather jacket standing behind me. A shorter, balding man was standing next to him.

"May Ed... help you?" I said timidly. The short man nodded. Suddenly, the blonde man's hand clamped over my mouth. I tried to scream, but whatever came out was muffled by the man's large hand. The shorter man took out a plastic riot cuff and fastened my hands behind my back. Then, the man took out a roll of duct tape and tore off a strip.

"Time for you to be quiet," the blonde man said, sliding his hand away from my mouth. Before I could scream, the tape was pressed over my lips. Then, a dark, black bag was placed over my head, and I could feel my legs being bound with tape. "Alright, let's go!"  
  
The two men picked me up and dragged me off. I couldn't see, so I began screaming. I knew that whatever I said would be muffled by the tape, but I knew that if I made as much noise as I could, someone would have to hear me, right? _Kirsten, Asada, Piripi, Sani, Sylvan, anyone!  
_

"What's going on? Where are these people taking Edward?"

I struggled in the grip of the two men, but they held me tight, and I could feel myself being carried down the stairs by them. _They're walking right down into the lobby! Idiots, they'll be seen! _But they must have taken some other route, for as soon as they got down the stairs, I could hear the sound of a door creaking open, and quickening footsteps. Then, the sound of a car trunk opening. _Oh, no! _

"Get her in there! The boss is gonna be pissed if we don't get her to him right now!" shouted the blonde man. I couldn't see either of them, but I knew both of their voices now. Suddenly, I was dropped onto a carpeted surface, probably the bottom of the trunk. The trunk lid snapped shut over me. _Yep, I'm in the trunk. _

---

After a few minutes, the car I was in came to a stop, and I could hear the trunk lid being opened. The two men grabbed me from the trunk and carried me a little ways, until I could hear another door opening. The two men pulled me inside and walked some more. By now, I'd stopped struggling. Even if I'd gotten out of the grip of the two men, I was bound, blind, and... no, not helpless. Never helpless. My dad would never, ever let me be helpless. Then, the two men stopped and held me in place. The bag was finally yanked from my head, and, although it took my eyes a second to adjust to the light, I could see perfectly. When I saw the man standing in front of me, I couldn't help but tremble, if only slightly. _It's Frémont..._

"My, my, my, this is truly a historical day," Frémont said, sneering at me. "The hacker legend, Radical Edward, face-to-face with the Syndicate legend, Cecelle Frémont. Wait... we've met before, haven't we? Yes, we have."

Even though I was scared, I tried my best to look enraged, so Frémont knew he had messed with the wrong space cowgirl. As it turned out, I didn't have to try to look enraged. I already was.

"Now, I have a phonecall to make," Fremont said, walking over to a video phone that was sitting on a table in the corner of the room that we were in. The room was entirely empty except for that table and a videophone, but there really wasn't much room for anything else, except for a light that dangled from the ceiling, casting dim shadows on the bricks of the wall. "Monsieur Mazarin will regret his rudeness earlier today."

__

"Rudeness?" I thought. _"What the..."_

"Well, now Sylvan and his mother will have to pay a pretty penny... if they ever want to see you alive again, that is. I know Sylvan does, anyway," Frémont said. That was all I could take. I screamed at Frémont to leave Sylvan alone... or at least I tried to, the tape still distorting my every word. "Sylvan, this is Frémont. I have something that belongs to you."

I couldn't see Sylvan on the videophone, because Frémont stood in front of it, blocking my view. But I could hear him.

"What the hell do you want?" Sylvan shouted. "If this is about today-"

"Ah, ah, ah, that little attitude of yours is why you're in this mess, remember?" Frémont said, an evil glint in his eye. "And now, it's why _she's _in this mess."  
  
Finally, Frémont stepped aside. The two men who were holding me pushed me in front of the videophone so that Sylvan could see my face.

"Edward!" Sylvan shouted, a look of terror crossing his face. I screamed at him, not caring that he couldn't understand a word I was trying to say.

__

"Sylvan, don't!" I wanted to tell him _"Whatever happened today, I forgive you, don't do anything this sick bastard tells you to do!"_

But I was pulled away from the screen as roughly as I had been pulled toward it. Frémont began to speak again.

"Twelve hours, Sylvan, that's all the time you have," Frémont said. "I want one billion wulongs and the deed to the _Fantaisie Sign_, with a contract for your mother's guaranteed lifetime employment."

"I swear to God, if you harm one hair on her head, you sick son of a-"

"As a French gentlemen, I have serious reservations about striking a woman, especially one who is bound and helpless and who cannot fight back, but rest assured that I will do it if you say one more rude thing to me or to my associates, do I make myself clear?" 

Sylvan opened his mouth to say something else, but quickly closed it and nodded his head.

"Good," Frémont said, smiling. "See you in twelve hours."

The videophone shut off. Frémont walked over to me and grinned.

"Well, it looks like Sylvan is very passionate about you," Frémont said. "You're a very, very lucky woman."

As I stared into Frémont's eyes, my intense fear was quickly, quickly overridden by intense rage, swelling inside me. _How dare he use me to hurt Sylvan... or his mother... I won't let him use me like this! I won't be a pawn in his sick and twisted game! I'll escape... even if I have to... _

With a burst of strength that even I didn't know I was capable of, I writhed free of the two men holding me. Even if I was tied up, I could still kick this guy's butt... I could headbutt him, or dropkick him... but before I could entertain either of those thoughts, Frémont lunged toward me. He drew his crescent-shaped blade and pinned me against the wall. Then, with incredible strength, he slammed the two ends of the blade into the wall itself, the blade stopping a hair's width from my neck. Now, I was paralyzed with fear, my neck pinned to the wall by Fremont's deadly blade. If I flinched even a fraction of an inch, the blade would cut right into my throat. It was then that a single tear, one that I'd been holding in for the past ten minutes, slid down my cheek. As Frémont saw the tear, his lips curled into a devilish grin that resembled a shark who had just sniffed a droplet of blood falling into the ocean. Slowly, he pulled the blade from the wall, and I collapsed to the ground, hopelessly. Frémont leaned down and slowly pulled the piece of tape from my lips.

"Nice try," Frémont said. "Not only lucky, but feisty. Two qualities I admire."

"I won't let you hurt Sylvan..." I said through clenched teeth.

  
"If I were you, I wouldn't be worried about Sylvan, my dear," Frémont said. He gestured toward the two men, who lifted me up once more. "Take her to her room. Oh, and one more thing. I can tell that the girl still has her maiden's purity, a rarity in some parts of the solar system, even at her young age. No matter what, whether Sylvan comes or does not come, this girl will retain that purity while in our custody, am I understood?"

The two men nodded, then carried me out of the room and down a narrow hallway. They threw me, still bound, into a small, dimly-lit room with absolutely no furniture whatsoever. Then, they locked the door behind them and left me, alone.

"Sylvan..." I said, leaning against the wall. "I promise you, I'll find some way to get out of here... I won't let you lose the _Fantaisie Sign _because of me... I won't let you get hurt because of me!"

__

Sylvan...

---

And thus ends the darkest chapter yet! Cecelle Frémont is one evil, evil bastard, ne? Well, there's going to be plenty of excitement for Edward, but next chapter, I'll be switching over to Sylvan's perspective! What did he do that pissed Frémont off so much, anyway? And can he rescue Edward? Or will Ed rescue herself? Find out, same Ed-time, same Ed-channel!


	12. Dreams To Dream In The Dark Of The Night...

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me. 

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few (non-generic) French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

Reviews: (coming in a later chapper! ^_^)

Special Note: **THIS CHAPTER IS ENTIRELY IN SYLVAN'S POV. THIS IS ONE OF THE CHAPTERS WHERE IT SWITCHES OVER. I REPEAT, THIS CHAPTER IS IN SYLVAN'S POV. (Thank you! ^_^)**

---

After I went to bed on the night of my date with Edward, I could hardly sleep. I mean, I'd just told her that I... that I loved her! And she said she loved me too... well, she said she was pretty sure she did, but I know that means "yes". When I finally did get to sleep, I dreamed about her...

---

__

"Sylvan, dear... wake up, you've been sleeping all morning!"  


In the dream, Ed and I lived in a beautiful villa, overlooking the most incredible lake in Neo-France. When I opened my eyes, I could see her standing before me, wearing a beautiful pink dress. She smiled the warmest, most beautiful smile that I'd ever seen. 

"Oh, Ed, I'm sorry..." I said, standing up and kissing her on the cheek. "I was dreaming about you..."

"Ed was dreaming about you too, Sylvan dear," she said sweetly. "Sylvan, you said yesterday that you wanted to go out on the lake today! Remember, you bought a yacht and you said we'd finally actually go out in it today, remember?"

"I did say that, Ed," I said, chuckling lightly. "Alright then, we'll go out."

"Oh, thank you, Sylvan!" she said, literally jumping for joy. "Well, let's go!"

We got out onto the lake and boarded the yacht. After starting up the motor, we were off and cruising, skimming the lake with incredible speed. Ed stood on the bow of the craft, letting her beautiful hair and dress flow as the wind passed over it. She turned to me and smiled.

"Sylvan, this is the most wonderously wonderful day of Edward's life!" she said, her eyes wide with happiness. 

"Edward," I said seriously, walking over to her and kneeling at her feet. I took out a small, white box and opened it up, revealing a beautiful ruby ring. "I... I have to ask you something, Ed. Will you... will you... marry me?"

Ed gasped. 

"Sylvan..." she said, her voice trembling. "Sylvan, I-"

  
But before she could say another word, something leaped out of the water and grabbed her by the neck! I lunged for her, desperately grabbing for her hand.

"Edward!" I screamed. 

"Sylvan!" she shouted back before being plunged into the depths of the lake. 

---

I awoke with a start, letting out a shout of fear and gasping for breath. I looked at my clock. It read "3:49" in big, red letters.

"Oh.... just... a dream..." I gasped, still shaking from the extremely realistic dream. I knew I couldn't look too deeply into those sort of things... still, the nightmare scared me enough to keep me awake for the next half hour. Finally, I was able to calm down enough to go back to sleep.

---

When I woke up again, it was nearly a half-past-ten o'clock. I didn't have any classes to go to, so I hopped out of bed, put on a white t-shirt, a blue denim jacket, some denim jeans, and a pair of tennis shoes. Then, I drove off to the _Fantaisie Sign _to check up on my mother, remembering to strap on a holster around my sock with a loaded pistol inside... _just in case._

__

"Those thugs of Fremont's usually show up about this time," I thought as I climbed into my hovercar. _"I'd better get down there so I can give them today's protection money."_

Still sickened by the fact that half of our profits were now going to vicious criminals, I sped down to the _Fantaisie Sign _to make the transaction go as smoothly as possible.

---

When I got there, the thugs hadn't shown up, thank goodness. I entered the restaurant and sat down at one of the front tables to have breakfast. Relatively few customers were in the restaurant at the time, so I nearly had the place to myself. As I began to eat, my mother, smiling and wearing a beautiful red dress, walked up and sat down across from me at my table.

"So, Sylvan... how'd it go?" my mother asked. "You're looking pretty happy."

"Oh, mom, it was wonderful," I said, my feelings beginning to surface. "Ed wore a beautiful dress, and her hair was shimmering, and she was just the most beautiful, wonderful girl I've ever seen... the date was incredible."

"Oh, really?" my mom replied, curiously wanting to hear more. "Tell me..."

"We went out for dinner, and then we saw a movie, and then I took Ed up to the top of the Neo-Eiffel Tower... mom, you wouldn't believe the view we had! And then we...."

"Yes, Sylvan? What did you do then?"  


"Oh, mom, I kissed Edward," I said joyfully. "We kissed for probably six seconds, and... oh, her lips were so beautiful, it was the most wonderful, incredible kiss... mom, I think... no, I know, I know I do!"  


"Know you what, Sylvan?"

"I love Edward, mom! I love her! And she loves me too! Oh, mom, I'm just the happiest, luckiest man in the whole solar system!"

As I said those words, my voice lifted with glee. My heart felt light as a feather as I professed my love for Edward, just as it did last night. My spirit was uplifted, renewed, I felt wonderful!

"Sylvan, that's incredible!" she said happily. "Oh, Sylvan, where is she now?"  


"Well, she's back at the college, but I'm going to go visit her later on today. We're going to come here and have another date tonight, and you'll be able to see both of us then!"

"Sylvan, congratulations!" my mother said. "I'm so happy for the both of you!"

Suddenly, the door to the _Fantaisie Sign _opened. Two tough-looking, leather-jacket wearing thugs walked into the room with devilish looks on their faces.

__

"Uh oh," I thought as the men walked toward us.

"I'll handle this," my mother said, walking up to the thugs. "Gentlemen, you have business with us today?"

"That's right, madame, you know the drill," said the first thug, a tall man with long, red hair and a scar on his forehead. "We'll do this in the back, alright?"

"Can we just do it out here and get it over with quickly?" said my mother, taking out an envelope. "Here's the check, it's half of yesterday's earnings."

"Now, you know our boss likes to do these things professional-like," said another tall man with short, black hair and no scar. "Let's go to the back."

"Hey, wait a minute!" I said, walking toward them. "My mom's right, let's just give you the money, and-"

"Look, kid!" said the scarfaced man, grabbing me by my shirt collar. "This won't take long. And you stay out of this!"

"Don't grab him like that," my mother said, as calmly as possible. "Please... Sylvan, just stay out here."

The scarfaced man released me, and the two thugs walked with my mother to the back room of the restaurant. I began to get extremely worried. _What if those guys want to hurt my mom or something? I gotta follow them._

As quietly as I could, I crept to the back room. Standing just outside the door to the office where my mom and the two thugs were, I quietly watched and waited. I couldn't hear anything from inside, but I could see through a tiny window on the door. My mother handed the check to the black-haired man, and he put it into the pocket of his leather jacket.

__

"Well, I guess that went well," I thought, a bit of my fear subsiding. _"Now I just hope they'll leave..."_

But before I could collect my thoughts, my mother's scream pierced the silence from inside the room. I barged inside and gasped as I saw my mother, kneeling in the corner with the scarfaced man holding a knife to her neck.

  
"Boss doesn't pay us enough, so we're getting a little extra!" the scarfaced man shouted. "And you'd better cooperate, or-"

"It's the kid!" the black-haired man shouted, pointing right at me. "How dare you interfere!"  


"Let my mother go right NOW!" I shouted through clenched teeth. _"I knew they'd try to hurt her!"  
_

"Ah, ze little kid wants to play rough, does he?" the scarfaced man asked. "I'll show you rough!"

As the scarfaced man charged me with knife in hand, I did the only thing I could think of to do. Quickly, I drew the gun from my sock holster and shot the man in the hand, causing the knife to fly across the room and the thug to recoil in pain, clenching his badly bleeding right hand. I pointed my gun at the thug's head.

  
"And there's more where that came from," I said angrily. "Take your money and get out."

The two men pushed past me and fled the restaurant as quickly as they could. I put my gun back in its holster and rushed to my mother's side.

"Mom, are you okay?" I said, picking her up from the ground.

"I'm fine," she said, brushing herself off. "Sylvan, thank you... but... why did you have the gun?"  


"I was scared, mom," I told her. "I got a new one in case any of Fremont's men ever tried to pull something..."

"I see," she said softly. "I guess it's a good thing that you had it, but... I really don't like you carrying it around all the-"

  
"Then you keep it," I said, handing my mother the gun. "I'd probably feel safer if you had it..."

After a few more minutes spent recovering from our brief brush with danger, my mother and I walked back out into the restaurant, now empty except for a few very confused and scared-looking patrons.

---

After eating both breakfast and lunch, I reluctantly exited the _Fantaisie Sign_, still a bit worried for my mother's safety.

__

"I guess I'll be back tonight with Edward... her interview's probably over by now. I'd better go pick her up... I can't wait to see her!"

I drove over to the college campus, parked in front of Dejoule Hall, and walked into the building. As I reached the top of the steps leading to the hallway containing Edward's dorm, a very, very frightened-looking group of five girls ran up to me. I recognized them immediately as the girls whom Edward had been with before our date, waiting for me with Ed in the parking lot. 

"What's wrong, girls?" I asked, a bit worried. "Where's Edward?"

"That's just the problem!" shouted the tall one, whom I immediately recognized to be Kirsten. "I think something happened to her!"

"What?" I shouted back. "Why on Mars would you think something like that?"

My heart began to race. _The dream... it couldn't have meant anything, could it?_

"We found this outside Ed's room," said the short, bespectacled black-haired girl, Asada. "It's the disc that the dean of admissions gave her. She said she was taking it to her room, but when we looked inside, we couldn't find anyone!"

"No, no!" I shouted, desperately trying to find some explanation for Ed's disappearance. "Are you sure she didn't just go off somewhere else?"

"I'm positive!" Kirsten said. "She told us she was going up to put away her disc, and then that she was going to see you!"

"Going to see me?" I said hopefully. "Maybe she's just waiting in my dorm room!"

I dashed off down the hall toward my dorm, which was at the end of the second floor hallway. I took out my key and opened the door, but gasped when I found no one inside my room. 

"Well, duh, it was locked," came a voice from behind me. I turned around toward the girls. 

"I guess you're right..." I sighed. 

"Guys," said the girl with bluish-black hair, Piripi, "I saw scuff marks on the carpet outside Ed's door. Tons of them."

"I think she might have been taken against her will," Sani said. "But who the heck would want to do that?"

"I know who!" Kirsten shouted angrily before I could get a word in. "Stephanie probably bailed out of jail, and now she's holding Ed hostage somewhere! She's probably torturing her with all sorts of disgusting hazing rituals, and unless we save her she'll come back with a shaved head and her clothes painted an ugly shade of green!"

"Dammit, shut up!" I shouted at Kirsten, my anger and fear beginning to take over. "This isn't funny, this is serious! Someone's kidnapped Edward, and you think it's because of a damn sorority rivalry?"  


"Chill out, dude, Kirsten's probably right," Kimberly said. "You don't know about Stephanie, but she's really vicious, and-"

  
"Sylvan's right," Asada said, her voice beginning to quiver. "It wasn't Stephanie... Ed was taken by the French syndicate, I know it!"

I gasped. _Of course... those thugs I threatened must have went back and told Frémont, and... oh my God..._

"No..." I said, my voice as fearful as Asada's. "No, no, no..."

Suddenly, the videophone on my desk rang. I pressed the button to turn it on, causing Frémont's sneering face to appear on my screen. _I knew it...._

"Sylvan, this is Frémont," he said. "I have something that belongs to you."

As Frémont spoke, I thought I could hear the faint, muffled cries of a girl in the background. _Edward... _Asada started to speak, but I raised my hand, silencing her. 

"What the hell do you want?" I shouted angrily. "If this is about today-"

"Ah, ah, ah, that little attitude of yours is why you're in this mess, remember?" Fremont said snidely. "And now, it's why _she's _in this mess."

Frémont stepped aside. And then, I could see her. Two men were holding Edward, who was furiously struggling in their grasp. A piece of duct tape formed a seal over her lips, muffling her loud screams of protest. The men shoved her face up to the screen, and she continued to scream, a terrified look on her face. Her eyes looked like they could burst with tears at any second. I wanted to help her so much, I wanted to leap into the screen, free her from her captors, and tear Cecelle Frémont and all of his damned thugs limb from limb... _Oh, Ed... I'm so sorry... please, please let them not have hurt you... _But then, she was rudely yanked away from the screen. 

"Twelve hours, that's all the time you have," Frémont said, walking back into the view of the screen. "I want one billion wulongs and the deed to the _Fantaisie Sign_, with a contract for your mother's guaranteed lifetime employment."

I couldn't take it anymore. With an explosion of anger, I yelled: "I swear to God, if you harm one hair on her head, you sick son of a-"

"As a French gentlemen," he said, interrupting my tirade, "I have serious reservations about striking a woman, especially one who is bound and helpless and who cannot fight back, but rest assured that I will do it if you say one more rude thing to me or to my associates, do I make myself clear?" 

I began to speak, but then I remembered that if I didn't shut up and try to control my anger, he could hurt Ed... he could kill her... with a great deal of hesitation, I closed my mouth and meekly nodded my head.

"Good," Frémont said, a sick, sick smile on his face. "See you in twelve hours."

The connection ended, and the screen turned back. I couldn't take it anymore. I put my head in my hands and began to sob.

"Oh, God!" I screamed lamentfully. "Why... Edward, I'm sorry! It was my fault... I threatened Frémont's men, I offended him... why do you have to suffer? Ed, with all of my heart, body, and soul, I swear to you that I'll find some way... some way to... set you... free..."

I collapsed onto the bed, sobbing violently. A warm hand went on my shoulder. I looked up, and could see Asada's face through the tears coursing down my own.

  
"Sylvan," Asada said warmly, "we care about Ed too... and it's not your fault. Ed would never, ever think that, and you know it... she loves you, Sylvan."

  
"It's true," Piripi said, nodding her head. "We talked for hours about you last night..."

"She couldn't stop talking about you, she kept us all awake," Kirsten said, clenching her fists. "Ed believes in you, she trusts in you, and she loves you..."

"Oh, thank you..." I said, sitting up and looking around at all five girls. "But... Edward... those vicious thugs... and there's no way we could come up with a billion wulongs in twelve hours... we could hand over the deed to the _Fantaisie Sign, _but..."

Could we hand over the deed? Could I honestly tell my mother that she had to sign a contract that would essentially make her Frémont's slave for life? No, I couldn't... I couldn't do that to her, I loved her too much... but I loved Edward too... _it's all my fault!_

"We're marching down to the _Fantaisie Sign _right now and getting that money, that's the first thing we're gonna do," Kirsten said eagerly. "Your mom's rich, right? She'll help Edward out, right? You told her how much you loved Ed, right?"

"Guys, I... I can't do that to my mother," I said regretfully. "I love Ed, I love her with all of my heart, but-"

  
"Oh, come on!" Kirsten whined. "Ed NEEDS your help! You've got to-"

"Kirsten, no," Asada said. "Sylvan's known his mom for what, 18 years? And even though he loves Ed, he's only known her for four days."

  
"He can't expect his mom to trade her entire world away for her son's girlfriend," Piripi said sadly.

"This is really a dilemma," Sani said. "A very, very bad one..."

"Still, we should probably go down to the _Fantaisie Sign _and tell mother what happened to Edward," I said. "Maybe she'll be able to think of a way we can help her..."

We left the dorm room and headed to the _Fantaisie Sign_, the girls piling into Asada and Kirsten's hovercars. I climbed into my own car, and the six of us drove off to visit my mother. _Don't worry, Ed... I promise I'll save you, by any means necessary! Except... my mom..._

---

"I know exactly what we should do," my mother said, walking up to the phone on her desk. "We should call the police!"

  
"No!" I shouted, grabbing the phone away. "Any sign of the cops and they'd kill her, right on the spot! I won't risk Ed's life like that!"

  
"Then what do you suggest we do, then?" she said, angrily. "Ed's a sweet girl, but there's no way I'm giving up this restaurant, and we don't have a billion dollars, and we could never, ever get that kind of money, either!"

"See, Kirsten," Asada said, turning to the redhaired girl. "She'd never go for it, even if Sylvan offered."

"Well... how dare you!" Kirsten said, offended. "Your son loves-"

Kirsten's angry protests were quickly muffled when Piripi and Asada both placed their hands over Kirsten's mouth and held her back. 

"Sorry about that, but we really, really do care about Edward," Piripi said, slowly sliding her hand away.

"It's alright, I know how you all feel," said my mother. "Edward is a sweet, sweet girl... and she's just the kind of girl that I'd love for my son to spend his whole life with..."

"Then why won't you do something?" Kirsten shouted. "Throw a karaoke fundraiser! I'm sure you could come up with the money that way..."

"This isn't the movies, Kirsten," I said, rebuking her suggestion. "We'd never make that kind of money in twelve hours. Not even the Jerry Lewis Memorial muscular dystrophy telethons make that much money."

"Then maybe we should... try to find Ed ourselves," Kirsten said, quietly. 

"That's crazy," Kimberly said. "We don't even know where those French syndicate guys are keeping her!"

"If I knew..." I said, my voice beginning to rise with anger, "I swear, I'd tear them all limb from limb, every last one of them until I found Ed!"

"Sylvan, I know, I know how you feel..." my mother said calmly.

"No, you don't! Nobody knows how I feel, no one cares about Edward as much as I do! It's my fault she's in all this, it's my fault she was kidnapped, I shot that thug in the hand, and now Ed is paying the price because I couldn't control myself!" 

I couldn't keep the anger in any longer... just like last time, I'd exploded and gone off at everyone. A tear streaked down Asada's face, and then, down my mother's as well.

"Oh, Sylvan, no..." my mother said, beginning to sob. "You did what you had to do to protect me... "

"Sylvan, wherever Edward is, she's probably thinking about you right now," Asada said. "She still loves you, and she knows that somehow, someway, you'll be able to rescue her. You have to calm down, Sylvan..."

  
"We're all here for you..." Sani said. "And in spirit, Edward is too."

I immediately calmed down as I sensed the caring and compassion from the girls and my mother begin to flow around me.

"Mom, the girls and I are going to go look for Edward," I said, with a determined look on my face. "I promise, I'm going to find her."

"Oh, Sylvan, I know you will..." my mother said, wiping a tear from her eye. "Remember, Edward believes in you."

"And we do too, Sylvan," Kirsten said softly. "Let's go."

The girls walked out of the room, and I began to follow them. Just before I left, my mother handed me something. It was my holster, and my pistol. 

"You'll need this," she said. I nodded and took the holster from her, strapped it around my ankle, and walked out to the parking lot to join the girls. 

__

The dream... it was trying to tell me something... but Edward, I promise I'll pull you out of the water... I won't let you drown.

---

Oh my gosh, Sylvan's so determined to find Edward! But will he find her in time? Next chapter's switching back to Ed's POV, and trust me, it'll be a doozy that you won't wanna miss!


	13. This World Cannot Bring Me Down, Cause I...

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me. 

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few (non-generic) French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

Reviews: (coming in a later chapper! ^_^)

Note: Back to Ed's POV! ^_^

---

I sat in the dark, cold room for what seemed like over an hour, thoughts racing through my head about how to escape. I'd tried wriggling free from my bonds, but unlike metal handcuffs, which I could slip through fairly easily, these plastic cuffs had been tied extremely tightly, nearly cutting off my circulation. I could barely even move my wrists to strain free, even though my limbs were extremely thin. After trying to get free for what seemed like an eternity, I slumped up against the wall and pondered my predicament.

"Ed should have tried harder to get away..."

But I was so surprised by the quickness of my capture that by the time I knew fully what was happening, I was already tied up and halfway to the trunk of the thugs' car. Still, Sylvan and my friends had to know what had happened to me by now... Frémont called Sylvan, I saw his face... he looked so sad, terrified even... maybe even more than I was. _Sylvan, Ed will find a way out of this mess somehow..._

Then, the door to my tiny cell creaked open, and a tall, red-haired man stepped inside. He had a hideous scar on his face, probably caused by some sort of blade slash. His hand was also tightly bandaged, and I could see a large, bloody wound beneath the dressings, so I knew that that particular wound was probably made some time today. He was carrying a small bottle of water in his hand, presumably for me.

"Boss said to give you this," the scarfaced man said, thrusting the bottle up to my face. "Can't have you dying of thirst."

"Edward just had a drink a few hours ago," I said, trying to sound as angry as I could. The man scowled at me.

"Look, the boss says drink up!" the man shouted, sticking the end of it into my mouth and tipping it into the air so that I was forced to drink. Water poured into my mouth, and I could feel some of it slipping down into my throat. I began to cough and sputter, and the man quickly pulled the bottle away from my lips.

"There, that wasn't so bad," the man said.

"You almost choked me, you jerk," I half-whispered, just loud enough for the man to hear. _"Frémont doesn't want me getting hurt, this guy can't do anything..."_

But I was wrong. The man threw the water bottle across the room and forcefully grabbed my jaw with his hand, holding up the other, non-wounded appendage in front of my face for me to see, a tiny droplet of blood falling to the floor from beneath the bandages.

"See this? Your boyfriend did this to me today!" the man shouted, clenching my jaw harder. "And I won't hesitate to do much, much worse to you, you little-"

Now was my chance. I kicked forward, slamming my two bound feet into the man's stomach with ferocious intensity. The man let out a stifled yelp of pain and stumbled back, his hand falling away from my face and going toward his stomach as he doubled over. Putting my weight into my back, I pushed off with my hands and kicked the man hard, right in the face. He stepped back again, toward the doorway. Then, with blood dripping down his lower lip, he collapsed unconscious. 

__

"I knocked him out..." I thought, still a bit amazed at my accomplishment. _"Now I need to get out of here!"_

But in trying to get to my feet, I ran into one problem. 

"Wait, Edward is still tied up," I thought, collapsing back onto the ground. _"This could be a problem..."_

"What's going on here?" 

At the sound of the voice, I turned my head. Standing in the doorway, next to the man whom I'd just knocked out, was Cecelle Fremont, a bewildered look on his face. He looked down at the scarfaced thug and smirked, turning back toward me. 

  
"You didn't," Frémont said angrily. "Tell me you didn't do that."

"Edward did," I said, looking up at Fremont as I worked into a sitting position. "And Ed will do it to you, too."

"You must either have psychic powers or incredible body control to have been able to knock out one of my thugs while bound hand and foot, Miss Appledelhi," Frémont said, a grin appearing on his face.

  
"It's the last one," I said, as I began to get up again, trying to rise to my feet. "You don't mess with Radical Edward and expect to get away with it, do you?"

Although I was a bit wobbly at first, I was able to get myself into a standing position, face-to-face with Frémont. He slowly began to walk into my cell.

"Is that a threat, Miss Appledelhi?" he said, frowning. "Because I assure you, you will not survive a fight with me."

  
He reached inside his long trenchcoat and began to draw his crescent blade. _Oh, no you don't! _I leaped off the ground and did a mid-air somersault, trying to get as close to him as I could. My feet slammed into his chin, and he let out a loud cry, clearly stunned by the blow. I could see him stumble back, but now I needed to get to my feet again. But without my hands to steady myself, it was useless, and I fell hard on my back, my weight crushing my wrists as I fell onto them and the hard floor. Letting out a loud groan of pain, I quickly started trying to make it back my feet again. Fremont was stumbling toward me, and I knew I didn't have much time.

"Let me congratulate you..." Fremont said as he re-entered the room. "I was wrong. You're not helpless..."

"Damn right... I'm not..." I said fiercely as I managed to stand up for the second time. "Take this!"

I leapt up again and delivered a dropkick to Fremont's face, hitting him squarely in the nose. He stumbled backwards and out of the room again as I landed hard on my side. _Well, it's better than falling on my back... _As I looked up at Frémont again, he was tumbling backwards, tripping over the fallen scarfaced thug and landing hard on his back, his head hitting the wall. Now was my chance. I rolled over, outside of the cell, then, with my back to the unconscious thug's body, I frantically searched with my hands for anything that the thug had been carrying that I could use to cut through my bonds. But before I could even start searching the man's jacket, I felt a hard slash across my check that sent me rolling back, further down into the hallway. I was grateful that I was still outside my cell, but wincing in pain from an apparent cut on my cheek made by Fremont's crescent blade. He walked toward me, holding the blade in his gloved right hand.

"Surely you know how useless this is, Edward!" Frémont shouted, hurling his blade toward me. I rolled out of the way, narrowly missing the blade as it flew straight at my face, then watched its path as it curved and came back at me.

__

"Maybe if Ed times it just right, Ed can move in front of the blade and it will cut Ed free!" I thought. However, it was too late, as the blade quickly rushed past me and went right back into Fremont's hand. But now I had another opening. I swept my legs under Fremont's, sending him crashing to the ground, his blade flying from his hand and skidding across the floor. 

__

"I can get it!" I thought. But then, two strong hands wrapped around my legs and pulled me back. 

"No, you don't!" Frémont roared, his rage now evident in his voice. "Get back here!"

"Let... me... GO!" I yelled, pulling my legs free from Frémont's grip and kicking him in the face as hard as I could. As he clutched his face in pain, I began squirming toward the blade as quickly as I could, determined to grab it and free myself. The blade hadn't skidded very far down the narrow hallway, and I was just about to reach it... so close...

"_Non_," Frémont said sternly, stepping directly in front of the blade and blocking me from it. "It ends here."

Frémont lifted his leg, but I could tell he would try to hit me in the head, so I rolled out of the way, giving him time to pick up his blade. _No... so close..._

"Too bad, Edward," Frémont said coldly. For the third time, I picked myself up off of the ground and got into a standing position, ready to defend myself again. 

"I won't let you hurt Sylvan!" I shouted. "No matter what you do to me, I'll fight you..."

"Like I said before, I must congratulate you for being able to put up an excellent fight despite not having the use of your limbs," he said, chuckling. "Someone's taught you well. But..."

Frémont swung his blade at my chest, but it whizzed by me, an inch short of its target. I smirked, preparing for another strike. But then, a chill went through me. _Wait... he missed on purpose! _

And that's when Frémont's fist slammed right into my nose, quickly knocking my tied body to the floor. His powerful right hook had taken me completely by surprise, and as a large trickle of blood began to gush from my nostrils, Fremont rudely dragged me back to my cell and threw me inside, my back slamming hard into the wall. He knelt down in front of me.

"Now, let's never, ever do something like that again," Frémont remarked.

__

"Brûlez dans l'enfer, vous bâtard sadique..." I said, glaring at him angrily.

"You know, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all," Frémont said, slapping me hard on my face. "Little wench."

He left the room, locking the door behind him and carrying away the thug I'd knocked out earlier. I slumped against the wall and began to sob. I'd blown my only chance to escape, and now I would probably be killed... _Oh,_ _Sylvan... I failed... _

---

"Francoise, I know you know how to fight... I mean, I'm the one that taught you! But to be able to fight effectively, there are five key things you need to remember."

"What are they, daddy?"

"Now, I'm serious... you've got to remember these five things. Otherwise, you'll be able to fight, but you won't ever be able to win. Even if you win, you lose. You've got to remember these five things, okay?"

"Wait, even if Ed wins, she-"

"The first thing to remember is to always fight with a clear purpose. Never, ever go into a battle without knowing what you're fighting for and being sure that it's a noble cause. If you don't remember that, then why fight at all? You've always got to have a purpose.

The second thing to remember is to be versatile. No matter what the situation, you have to have the mind and the spirit to be able to find some way to win in that particular situation. Quick thinking is essential.

The third thing to remember is that a good defense can be a good offense. Remember that. Defense is different than just curling into the fetal position and protecting your head from blows. That's not defense, that's being a wimp. Dodging and parrying are speed skills, but not defensive skills. Defense is learning to take a blow and bounce back with a response. It's knowing the response to use and the right way to use it. 

The fourth thing is to fight with a reasonable amount of honor. I mean, you know, if somebody's trying to violate you or something, then by all means go for the testicles as hard as you can. But blatantly trying to win a fight by trying to poke someone in the eye or kick them in the crotch is going to get them upset, and sometimes, if they're upset enough they could be impossible to beat. Honor is calming, and if you fight with honor, you will be calmed as well, and not distracted by guilt.

Finally, the final and most important thing is to never give up. Francoise, no matter what, you've always got to have the will to win. No matter how bleak it gets or how tough your opponent seems or how impossible it might seem for you to win, you always have to have the will to win, deep inside of you. That's the key to victory, Francoise."

"Thanks, daddy... Ed promises she will always remember what you taught her, no matter what."

"You're welcome, Francoise... I guess it's probably time to tell you about the birds and the bees now, huh?"

---

What I'd done today would make Daddy proud, I knew it... I'd been able to adapt to the predicament I was in, I fought with honor, and... no.... no, he wouldn't be proud... when Frémont hit me, something inside me gave up. It was like I couldn't move after that... 

__

"Daddy... Sylvan... Ed is so sorry..."

---

"Get up. Get up, you worthless girl, get up!"

I blinked my eyes and looked up at Frémont from the cold, hard floor of my cell, where I had apparently fallen asleep. Frémont was standing over me, accompanied by three of his thugs, two of whom I knew as the ones who had kidnapped me from Dejoule Hall.

"It has been nine hours now since Monsieur Mazarin has been notified of your disappearance, and yet it seems that he values his precious little bistro more than he does his precious little girlfriend," Frémont said, a statement which renewed my anger. "So, we're going to give him a bit of a reminder about what's at stake here."

  
Frémont took out a roll of duct tape and tore off a strip, using it to cover my lips again, as well as the blood from my nose that had caked up around them while I had been asleep.

"You know, you really do have your mother's eyes," Frémont said, a remark that caught me completely off-guard. "Take her into the main room."

Three guards grabbed me, and I began to thrash about furiously, determined not to let these men take me anywhere. 

__

"No, I won't be used against Sylvan, not anymore!" 

The thought raced through my head, as well as the comment Frémont had made regarding my mother. Did he have something to do with my mother's disappearance ten years ago? _Yet another reason to beat this guy to a pulp..._

As I continued to thrash, the men holding me began to have to struggle just to hold on to my body. _They won't be taking Edward anywhere!_

"Stop struggling right now," Frémont said, pulling out a pistol and pressing it against my forehead. "I hate having to use such an uncivilized weapon as a gun, but if you resist anymore, I will blow your head off."

Terror coursed through my body, and I quickly stopped thrashing. I knew Frémont wouldn't hesitate to kill me, and it was a small wonder that he hadn't done it already. Quickly, the three men carried me into a large, wide-open room that looked like it had once been used for storage. I could hear rain and lightning pounding outside the warehouse, and I could see through the large windows at the top of the room that the sky had turned pitch black... it must have been past midnight. The men carried me over to a videophone mounted on the wall, and held me in place in front of it as Frémont lowered his gun and smirked at me.

"You will pay dearly for Sylvan's indecisiveness," Frémont said. 

__

"Sylvan doesn't have a billion wulongs to give to you!" I thought. _"If he did, he'd pay the ransom in a heartbeat!"_

"Well," he said, drawing his crescent-shaped blade and holding it to my throat. "Are you afraid, Miss Appledelhi?"

I shook my head as much as the blade's close proximity allowed me to. Of course I was scared, but I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of me admitting that fact... he didn't deserve it, not one bit. He frowned, as I'd obviously told him what he didn't want me to.

"Wrong answer," he said, quickly slicing his blade across my neck. I fully expected it to be a killing blow and shut my eyes, but when the end didn't come, I opened them and realized that he'd only made a tiny cut to try and intimidate me. _Well, it didn't work._

"Now," Fremont said, pointing the end of the blade to my neck again. "Are... you... afraid?"

This was it. I'd admit I was afraid, since it obviously meant my life, and he'd call Sylvan and torture me in front of him.... _no.... it would crush Sylvan to see me get hurt! _There was nothing I could do... a wave of hopelessness that had been only small before was now crushing me... I felt sad, afraid, and angry all at the same time... how could something that started out so wonderful end in such a horrific way? _Ed is so sorry.... Ed is so sorry... Ed is so sorry..._

__

No matter what, you've always got to have the will to win. No matter how bleak it gets or how tough your opponent seems or how impossible it might seem for you to win, you always have to have the will to win, deep inside of you. That's the key to victory.

No matter how bleak it gets or how tough your opponent seems or how impossible it might seem for you to win, you always have to have the will to win, deep inside of you. 

No matter how bleak it gets, you always have to have the will to win, deep inside of you.

You always have to have the will to win.

Never give up.

"NO!" 

With tears streaming down my face, I desperately pushed my body forward, plunging myself toward the ground. As I fell under the blade, I pushed again, breaking completely free from the grip of all three of the men holding me and hitting the ground on my back. I heard a loud gasping noise, and I looked up to see that Frémont had missed me and had plunged his blade right into the chest of one of the three thugs. The other two lunged at me, and I kicked one of them squarely in the chest, knocking him back and causing him to hit his head on the ground and pass out. Then, I swept my legs under the other man, catching him by surprise and sending him crashing to the ground as well. I wearily climbed to my feet again, despite my limbs still being bound. Frémont ripped his blade from the chest of the man he had plunged it into and turned toward me, in a rage.

"There's no way I'll be defeated by a helpless, weak little girl like you!" Frémont shouted, swinging his blade at my head. I effortlessly ducked the slash, then, flipped myself backwards, kicking up at Fremont's hands.

__

"This better work..." I thought, moving my legs up as far as they would go. _Success! _My two feet crashed into Frémont's hands, causing me to immediately fall on my face, but at the same time, knocking the blade into the air. As the blade fell, I lifted my cuffed wrists into the path of the blade as it fell. As Frémont desperately grabbed for the blade, it eluded his grip and slashed through the plastic riot cuffs, finally cutting my arms free! I rolled out of the way as the blade clattered to the ground, ripped the tape away from my legs and lips, then lunged forward at Frémont, punching him in the face as hard as I could muster. The ferocious punch stunned him and knocked him to the ground.

"Who's helpless now, asshole?" I said, rubbing my wrists to get some of the circulation back into them after being tied for the last nine hours. "Ed needs to curb her pottymouth..."

Just then, one of the men whom I'd knocked down earlier got up, growling at me. I leaped up and spun around, kicking him hard in the face and knocking him back into the wall. The thug slumped against the wall, knocked out.

"Excellent show, Miss Appledelhi," came Frémont's voice from behind me. He had his crescent-shaped blade in his right hand. 

__

"Darn, Ed should have picked that up when she had the chance... too late now, I guess..."

"But since you're now just a liability to me... you'll have to be killed. Get her!"

Before I could go after Frémont, about ten or twelve men came out of nowhere, guns at the ready. I gasped and ran for the large door at the back of the room as the men began to fire at me, praying that the door would be unlocked. After what seemed like an eternity, I reached the door and ripped it open, dashing out into a large, abandoned parking lot as the heavy rain assaulted me. I looked back toward the warehouse, expecting to see Frémont's thugs still chasing me. However, the door had closed behind me, and not a single man had followed me outside. I stopped running when I reached the middle of the lot and began gasping for breath. _Oh my God, I don't believe it... I actually escaped!_

I began running again, toward a street adjacent to the parking lot. Several cars were zooming past, and I hoped that at least one of them would give me a ride. 

__

"I've got to get back to the Fantaisie Sign!" I thought, knowing that Sylvan would be extremely worried about me. I just hoped that he'd be there when I arrived... I ran up to the street and began waving my arms.

"Taxi! Taxi!" I shrieked over the roar of the thunder and the rain. "Ed needs a taxi!"

Sure enough, a bright yellow hovercar pulled up alongside me within five seconds of my hailing for it. _Wow, that was a lucky break..._

"Mademoiselle, are you okay?" the man said in a concerned tone. "You look like you've been attacked..."

"I was kidnapped!" I shouted, pointing at the warehouse where I'd been imprisoned. 

"Oh my God," the man said. "Well, hop in, I'll get you to a hospital right-"

"No, I need to go to the _Fantaisie Sign_!" I shouted. "Please, there's someone important there I need to see!"

"Should I call the cops, too?" the man asked.

  
"Yes, but take me to the _Fantaisie Sign _first," I pleaded. "Hurry!"

I climbed into the taxi cab and reached down into the pocket of my skirt for my money card. However, it wasn't there anymore. _Frémont's thugs must have taken it... all of Faye-Faye's money, gone... but at least Edward is safe..._

I leaned back in the back seat of the cab and sighed, looking out the window as the cab sped off toward the _Fantaisie Sign_. 

__

Ed escaped, Sylvan... you don't have to be afraid anymore...

---

And that's it for that chapter! Wow, not quite the "rescue" you expected, eh? Well, Fremont learned a hard lesson today: You can't keep a good Ed down! And he got his butt kicked in the process! But what happens now? What did Sylvan and Ed's friends do to try and find her? Are they still out looking? And what of Fremont? Why does he know Ed's mom? Will he want revenge? Why didn't he send his thugs after Edward? All those questions will be answered later... BTW, the next chapter is from Fremont's POV. Yep, you heard me, the BAD GUY'S point of view. ^_^ See ya next chapter!


	14. For Those About To Rock, And Want To Rol...

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me. 

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few (non-generic) French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

Reviews: (coming next chapter!)

Note: THIS CHAPTER IS IN FREMONT'S POV. I REPEAT, FREMONT'S POV IN THIS CHAPTER. THANK YOU.

---

"Get her!"

The twelve men I'd called immediately began firing upon that wretched girl, Edward. But by the time they'd even gotten their guns aimed properly, she made it out the door and out into the parking lot. _Dammit._

"Boss, should we follow her?" called one of my men. I smiled, knowing that I could have Edward killed at any moment by my twelve best men if I wanted to. And yet... it wasn't worth it. If they caused a commotion in public like this, hundreds of people may hear their shots, and even with a good deal of the police force in the palm of my hand, public opinion may frown on the killing of an innocent young woman. 

"No, let her go," I told them, causing them to holster their guns and back off. "She is no longer necessary to our plans, and killing her would be a waste of bullets."  
  
"But boss, she disrespected you..." said another one of my men, quietly. "We've gotta teach her a les-"

"We don't have to do anything!" I shouted, interrupting him. "We must forget about her and worry about the big picture. One more word about Miss Francoise Appledelhi and I will kill the man who utters it. Any questions?"

The men all shook their heads obediently. Good... Miss Appledelhi's display of brute force against my person hadn't shaken their confidence, respect, or fear of me, the one thing I was most worried about after that debacle.

"And now, for the matter of you two failures," I said, walking over to the two men who were just now getting up from the fight, the other one having already been killed by my Crescando. "It won't happen again."

I drew my blade and slashed across the necks of the two dazed men, killing them both instantly. Incompetent fools like those were expendable. 

"As for the rest of you," I said, sheathing Crescando, "dispose of the three bodies and get to your vehicles immediately. We have a business meeting to conduct concerning the plan."

"You mean _Le Grippage Du Bastion En Cristal_?" asked one of my men. 

"Precisely," I said. "The seizure begins in just 36 hours."

As the men began to clear the bodies, I quickly walked toward the front entrance to the warehouse, still unable to purge the escape of Francoise from my mind. How could I have been so stupid? Of course, I'd never seen someone fight like that before... her wrists and ankles had been bound, but she still fought with incredible determination and agility, like someone who had twelve free limbs. It was absolutely astounding, to say the least... and her resemblance to the wife of Nikola Appledelhi was astounding... truly, that kind of strength and flexibility must have come from her father, with her mother's incredible determination. Her mother's name escapes me, however... ah, yes.

---

__

I remember it like yesterday... a dark alley, two of my thugs holding her beautiful, snow-white, red-haired form in place as the driving rain soaked her soft white gown. 

"Miss Marishani Appledelhi, how wonderful that we're seeing each other again... although it pains me for it to have to be like this."

"Where is Richilieu? What have you done with him?" she screamed, referring to a friend... more than a friend, actually. I knew she'd been having an affair with another man, and knowing this and threatening to reveal it to Nikola was the thing that had gotten her to come to me. That's one of the things you have to do when you're in a position such as myself, head of the French syndicate and all... well, second-in-command at the time, actually. Richilieu, the man she'd been referring to, was third... but she couldn't have known that, or she wouldn't have slept with him. Well, I guess she should probably know now.

"It's dangerous to sleep with a member of the French syndicate, my dear..."

"What? What are you talking about?" Marishani said, her voice tinted with shock. "You mean..."

"Richilieu is Serato Tanni's left-hand man. I happen to be his right. But Richilieu's been gaining in favor with Serato lately, and my position may be in danger. So, my beautiful queen... you are now reduced to a pawn, with which I shall checkmate Richilieu and be one step closer to becoming the leader of the French syndicate."

---

"Monsieur, your vehicle is waiting," said one of my men standing by the front door, the last one left in the building. Nechal was his name, an excellent shooter and an excellent driver, which is why he served as my official chauffeur. 

"Excellent," I said as I began my stride toward the warehouse's front door. _"The past is the past, but... I must not forget Francoise Appledelhi, as the spirit of her vengeful mother may still live on through her. I probably should've disposed of her when I had the chance. I will not make that mistake again. May she only hope we never cross paths again."_

---

As my wheelman drove at the rear of our Syndicate convoy, through the streets of Paris, I gazed up at our destination: the Neo-Eiffel Tower. 

"It's ironic," I said to my chauffeur. "That building will house tonight's meeting, where a plan will be finalized to capture it for the French syndicate... truly astonishing, don't you think?"

"Oui," he replied. "One wonders, however... it will be extremely difficult to take the building by force."

"Force will be only five percent of the plan," I said astutely. "The rest will be manipulation. Bribes, coercion, skillful political games. Most of the plan has already been implemented. I guess you're mostly right... come 36 hours, all that will be needed is force."

Our convoy parked in a small parking garage near the building. I told my twelve men to stay by their vehicles while I alone made my way into the huge structure. I walked over to the elevator and headed down, all the way down to the tenth-level basement, over a hundred feet below ground. I walked down a couple of narrow corridors until a suit-wearing man greeted me.

"Monsieur Frémont," he said cordially, "I welcome you."

"Merci," I said, a smile creeping onto my lips. "36 hours until this all becomes ours. Long live _Rose du Diable._"

With a smile, the man stepped aside. I walked down the hall until I reached a small door. Opening it, I stepped into a white room with a series of desks bordering the wall, behind which about twenty suited Syndicate members were seated. As I entered, one of them stood up, followed by the rest of them. 

"Monsieur Frémont, it is truly good to see you," said the man who had stood first. 

"Long live Cecelle Fremont! Long live _Rose du Diable!_" shouted the twenty men. I waved my hand slightly, causing them to sit. They listened obediently as I began to speak.

"As all of you know, _Le Grippage Du Bastion En Cristal _will began at precisely noon Monday," I said. "By the time the sun sets, the Neo-Eiffel Tower will be in Syndicate hands. All within who are not Syndicate members are to be either released or killed, depending on how many of our demands are met. The operation will be huge, requiring at least 15,000 Syndicate members and others, as well as the placement of a large explosive device within the core of the tower, to be detonated if the mission fails."

"We are all willing to die for the Syndicate," said one of the suited men. "All who are not should leave in shame."

The others nodded. I continued to speak.

"The explosive device was planted precisely two weeks ago, by the Syndicate division led by Monsieur Calére," I said, gesturing toward one of the men seated at the table. He nodded, and I continued. "Furthermore, many of the members of the Parisian Municipal Guard unit have been turned to our Syndicate, however, the military will be a problem, which is the reason why a large amount of manpower will be needed to capture the building."

"Monsieur Frémont, a question," said one of the Syndicate leaders whom I didn't immediately recognize. "Suppose the plan does fail, and we detonate the bomb. Who will lead the Syndicate afterwards?"

"A fine question," I said, as murmurs began to fill the room. "But I have provided for that. I have already spoken with Pierre Sarrané, leader of the Syndicate's northern division. In the event that the explosive is detonated and we are all killed, he will take over and carry on _Rose Du Diable_. However, I am confident... no, I assure that that will not happen. Our plan will succeed without fail. The Neo-Eiffel Tower will be ours!"

The men seated at the desk began to cheer. _Well, that went according to plan... failure is absolutely out of the question. The explosive will never be detonated, not if I have anything to say about it._

"On the day of _Le Grippage Du Bastion En Cristal_, our men will be planted all throughout the building. The security guards have almost all been bribed, and those that have not will be killed almost immediately. Though the tower is vast, the act of capturing almost all of the area on each floor should not be difficult, as our men will all be extremely heavily armed. Once our men have secured the areas on each floor and have taken sufficient prisoners, the handing over of the tower to the Syndicate should be easy to secure, since many of the officials that will be responsible for negotiating the surrender are also heavily influenced by the Syndicate."

I continued to divulge the plan, carefully detailing and coordinating each phase of the takeover.

"All of you each have your own set of plans to give to your men," I said. "Have you been preparing them for the operation?"

The Syndicate leaders nodded.

"My men are well-prepared for the capture, Monsieur Frémont!" said one of the Syndicate leaders, a man I'd worked with quite a bit in my early Syndicate days and had promoted him to a top position in a large Neo-French city, mostly because I admired his cold efficiency in getting tough jobs done. "We will not let you down!"

"Neither will my men! We will succeed, for the future of the Syndicate!" shouted another man. More and more of the suited Syndicate leaders also professed their readiness for the grand task. 

"Gentlemen, we stand at the apex of a great time in the history of our organization. A chance to seize a great and beautiful landmark as our own, to propel our traditionally underground profession to the forefront of the public view and leave an indelible mark on the history of Mars and the history of the universe itself. To this task, I say now that we must not, and will not fail, but will take the final stride toward power and glory for us all! Hail _Rose du Diable!"  
_

"Hail Cecelle Frémont! Hail Rose Du Diable!"

---

Having made the final preparations for the grand operation, I left the Neo-Eiffel Tower and walked back to my convoy, which had been waiting in the parking garage for more than three hours. I entered my limousine and reclined in the back seat as it rolled out into the busy streets.

"How was the meeting?" asked Néchal, my chauffeur. 

"Néchal, my friend, soon, the Neo-Eiffel Tower will be ours, and the name of _Rose Du Diable _shall be in the history books forever more."

"That's excellent, Monsieur Frémont," he said. "With your masterful leadership, we shall not-"

Suddenly, a gunshot pierced the driver's side window of the vehicle. Blood spattered the window that separated my backseat from the driver's side of the hovercar, and I knew immediately that Néchal had been shot and killed as the car began to swerve off the road. I quickly drew Crescando and slashed across the window, slicing the glass wide open. I slid through the narrow space and retook the wheel, correcting the vehicle's path and turning it into a back alley. I looked out the window and saw a small, floating space cruiser zoom past, a naked woman painted on its side. _Bounty hunters... _I knew I had a huge bounty on my head, but no one would be foolish enough to actually try and kill me, right? I was the most dangerous man in the Solar System... I guess I should have known that greed could make people do extremely dangerous things. As I stood outside the car and began to catch my breath, I caught sight of two headlights, flashing at me. Through the window in the front of the space cruiser I could see two people, a man and a woman. The man leaned out of the window of his space cruiser and pointed a gun straight at me.

"Whoohoo, I'm gon' kill that French sumbitch and git me a hundred twenty-five meeeeellion wulongs!" the man shouted in an appaling hick accent. 

"Kill 'im! Kill his ass!" shouted the woman sitting next to him, clinging to the man's shoulder. The man began to fire at me, but I easily blocked the bullets with my blade.

"You bounty hunters make me sick," I spat. "Prepare to die."

With a flick of my wrist, I tossed my Crescendo at the space cruiser. It ripped across the small craft's front window, decapitating the woman, but missing the man as he ducked, narrowly avoiding the sting of my blade. As it whirled back to me, I caught it in my hand and smiled at seeing the damage I'd caused. The man inside the cruiser turned red and began screaming in rage.

"You bastard! You bastard! I'm-'on kill you now!" the man shouted, angrily firing at me with his pistol. I again blocked the bullets with my blade, and wondered why the man couldn't simply fire on me with his space cruiser. I guess it was because he didn't have enough money to buy space cruiser ammunition... he was a poor hick, after all.

"Well, are you quite done?" I said, slowly walking up to the space cruiser again. The man began to fire at me a third time, but gasped in horror when he realized he didn't have any bullets left. "Out of bullets? Poor baby."

Tears began streaming down the man's face.

  
"Oh, please, please, mister Syndicate guy, ah swear ah didn't mean ta offend you..."

"I'd think a man would be more angry than scared after I just killed his sister," I said coldly, approaching the man's window. 

"She was mah wife, dammit!" the man shouted. He began to fire up the thrusters on his space cruiser, determined to escape... but I wasn't about to let him get away that easily.

"Same difference," I said, seizing the man's wrist and pulling him out of his vehicle. "Now die."

And with that, I thrust my blade through the man's chest, causing him to emit a gasp of pain. Then, his eyes rolled back, and he fell over, dead. I pulled my blade out of the man, wiped off the blood on his clothes, and sheathed the blade. Then, I walked back over to my limo and pulled out Néchal's body.

"Néchal, I've avenged you..." I said, a hint of sadness in my voice. I'd known Néchal for years, and it was an unfitting end for such a fine man to be killed by such unrefined hicks... _Pouvez vous reposer dans la paix_."

I took Nechal's body and placed it in the back seat of the limo. Before I could enter the limo on the driver's side, my convoy finally pulled up to the alley.

"It's about time you all showed up," I said sternly.

"We heard shots, but we thought they were on your end, Monsieur Frémont," said the driver of the convoy's lead car.

"You have far too much confidence in me," I said. "What if I'd been killed? Néchal was."

Not wanting to speak another word to my eleven remaining men, I got into the bloody limousine and drove off into the night, the convoy following behind me. That way, if I got into trouble again, they'd actually see me this time. _Not like I ever needed them to._

---

And that's it for Frémont's chapter! A bit shorter than the others, it's true, but it gets its point across. Geez, and you thought what he did to Ed was rotten... can Frémont's evil syndicate really capture the Neo-Eiffel Tower? Will Ed be able to stop them? Will Ed even find out in time? Next time on Fantaisie Sign... it's back to Ed's POV! Ed's reunion with Sylvan and her friends, and the results of the college applications... who gets in, who gets shafted? It's all in the next chapter!


	15. You've Been Hit By, You've Been Struck B...

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me. 

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few (non-generic) French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

Reviews: (coming next chapter!)

Katers: You liked the flashback, huh? Hee, that part was mostly to flesh out the chapter inbetween the two Ed vs. Fremont fights... but glad ya liked it!

Saberpilot: Actually, I've never taken anything like gymnastics and martial arts! ^_^ Only thing I play a lot of is basketball... I guess the closest thing to what Edward did is probably crab soccer, which we used to play in gym class. You have your hands under you and you have to push off to get your legs into the air to kick the ball... that's pretty close! And Faye and Jet may be involved, but they may not... you'll just hafta wait and see! ^_^

Nanashi's girl: Thanks for the review! You really understand more about Ed? Coolers!

Afgncaap5: Hee, I shoulda put a disclaimer that said not to try anything Ed ever does at home. And sorry I couldn't get it out in a day... I got this out in two days, that's close, right?

Ummmyeah: Hooray for the hicks? But they got killed! ^_^ Well, at least they killed one of Fremont's thugs. Thanks for reviewing!

****

Note: Back to Ed's POV again! 

---

I sat in the back seat of the taxi, restlessly waiting to see my friends once more. My right hand drifted up to my nose, and I lightly pressed on it, hoping that it hadn't been broken from Fremont's punch earlier. It hurt to touch it, but upon further inspection I came to the conclusion that it hadn't been broken, thankfully.

"You must have been through a lot today, huh?" asked the driver, kindly checking on my condition. I nodded to him.

"Ed has been through a lot, but Ed will be just fine," I said quietly. "Just a few bumps and bruises is all..."

I looked down to my wrists, where deep, purple bruises had formed from being tied so tightly for so long. They continued to hurt, even though I'd rubbed them for about a minute or two. The circulation had just started to come back to my hands, as they darkened from a very light cream color to their original tanned state. After a few more minutes of driving, the taxi finally pulled into the parking lot of the _Fantaisie Sign. _I looked inside and could see a very faint light, along with Sylvan's mother's car in the parking lot, so I knew she'd be there when I arrived. 

"This is the place," the driver said. "Don't worry about paying me... you've really, really been through a lot tonight, apparently. Are you sure you don't need an ambulance or anything?"

  
"I said I'll be fine," I replied. "But thank you very, very much... Edward doesn't know what she would have done without you."

I stepped out of the cab and waved to the driver as he pulled out of the parking lot. Then, with rain continuing to soak me, I walked up to the front door of the _Fantaisie Sign _and knocked loudly. Sylvan's mother, who was sitting at a table near the stage, got up and briskly walked toward the door, using her key to open it up for me. When she saw me, a look of immense joy and relief overwhelmed her face, and a tear slid down her cheek.

"Edward... oh, thank God you're alright!" she said joyfully, wrapping me in a tight embrace. I hugged her back, and after about twenty seconds of hugging we stepped inside to get away from the rain.

"I thought I'd never see you again, Miss Mazarin..." I said, trying to sound as calm as I possibly could. 

"Edward, what happened?" she asked me. "Did they let you go, or did you..."

"I got away," I said, showing her the bruises on my arms, legs, and shoulders that had come from falling to the ground repeatedly during the scuffles I'd endured. "It wasn't easy, but...."

"Oh, you poor dear, there's blood all over your face," she said, her eyes growing wide with concern. "It's all over your lips, and your chin, and-"

"Edward got punched in the nose by Cecelle Frémont during a fight we had," I said solemnly. "It's not broken, but-"

"Would you like to wash up in the bathroom?" she asked me, pointing toward the women's restroom. "There's makeup in there too, if you want to cover up some of the bruises on your face..."

"That would be fine," I said, hugging Sylvan's mother again. "Thank you..."

"I'll call Sylvan and the others and tell them you came back," Sylvan's mom said. "After Frémont called Sylvan with the ransom demands, they all went out looking for you! They've been out driving for the past nine hours... Sylvan will be so relieved to hear that you're safe!"

I stopped just short of the bathroom door and turned around.

"Sylvan... and Edward's new friends... went out looking for Ed?" I said, a bit surprised. But why should I be? Of course they'd go out looking for me... _thanks, guys... you're all wonderful, wonderful friends... _I just hoped that they hadn't gotten hurt... 

"Of course they went looking for you," Sylvan's mom replied, starting to get choked up as more tears streamed down her face. "You should have seen Sylvan... he was so distressed about you getting captured... he swore to me and everyone else here that he'd rescue you. Your red-haired friend, Kirsten, I think her name is... she was really vehement about getting you back, too... and so was your friend with the glasses... all five of your friends and Sylvan, they were so determined to save you, Edward..."

I dashed into the bathroom, slumped against the wall, and began to sob, my head in my hands. My friends... all of them had been so determined to save me... Sylvan, and Kirsten, and Asada, and Piripi and Kimberly and Sani... they cared about me so much...

"You guys..." I sobbed, tears streaming down my face, "I don't believe it... there's no way I can ever repay your kindness..."

"Edward, are you okay?" Sylvan's mom asked, creaking the door open slightly. "Oh, Edward, what's the matter?"

I stood up and turned away, looking into the mirror.

"Ed, it's not quite what you think... I mean, they'll be so happy to see you, and-"

"I'm already happy..." I said, turning back toward Sylvan's mother. "But... what if Sylvan and Edward's friends get into trouble looking for Ed?"

"They've called to check in with me every hour," Sylvan's mom replied. "Last time they checked in was twenty minutes ago... I'm sure they're alright."

"You should probably go call them right away," I said, sniffling. Sylvan's mom nodded and closed the bathroom door. I walked over to the sink, took some paper towels, and began to wipe the caked-up blood from my nose and lips. It didn't take me very long to get it done, and after applying a bandage to the cut on my neck and a small amount of make-up to my face to cover up most of the bruises, I really didn't look half bad for someone who'd been kidnapped, shoved into a small room, and who had fought for her life against some vicious thugs. Smiling, I stepped out of the restroom. As I did, I saw the bright glow of three sets of headlights, driving into the parking lot. I gasped, emitting a squeal of joy.

  
"Edward's friends are back!" I said, smiling. Sylvan's mom, standing over by the front door, beckoned me to join her. I ran to the front window just as Sylvan entered the restaurant, followed by Kirsten, Asada, and the others. When they saw me, they immediately lunged toward me, all vying to be the first to get a hug. _They sure are happy to see Edward... and Edward is happy to see them! _The first person I decided to hug was Sylvan, wrapping my arms around his chest in a tight embrace. Smiling, he leaned in toward me and planted a quick kiss on my lips, causing my body to tingle excitedly. "I'm happy to see you too, Sylvan!"

After about two or three minutes of hugging and rejoicing, my friends and I all sat down at a table near the stage, the only table in the restaurant big enough so that the eight of us could all sit down comfortably.

"Ed, are you sure you're alright?" Sylvan asked me for what I counted to be the fifth time in the last two minutes. "You sure took an awful lot of bumps and bruises..."

"Edward absolutely, super-duper promises that she's okay, Sylvan!" I said, smiling warmly and doing my best to reassure him. 

"Ed, you really are one incredibly strong woman," Sylvan said seriously. "I don't know anyone else who could have escaped from the French syndicate..."

"Okay, okay, Ed, here's the $64,000 question," Kirsten said. "Just... how did you get away, anyway? I mean, from what I could tell on the video phone transmission that Frémont sent us, you were bound, gagged, and kept in captivity with an extremely evil and cruel Syndicate fellow. I've _got _to know how you escaped."

"Yeah, Ed, tell us!" Piripi said eagerly. "If you feel like it, anyway..."

"No, Ed will tell you guys, don't worry!" I said. "Anyway, there Edward was, locked in a room with this really mean and tough French guy. Well, he was really, really mad, and it looked like he was going to hurt me. So, I kicked him in the face as hard as I could, and knocked him out."

"Wait, wait, wait," Kirsten said, waving her hand. "You were tied up... and you kicked him and knocked him out?"

I nodded.

"Hoooooly hell," Kirsten said, leaning back in her chair. "Ed, you're incredible."

  
"Not only are you a better dancer than Kirsten is, you're a better fighter. Ed, you rock!" Asada shouted. 

"Hey now, I wouldn't say that," Kirsten said, grinning. "I've kicked a lot of butts in my day, and I bet twenty-to-one that I could beat up those Syndicate dudes. Nah, Ed, Asada's right... you are incredible. I tip my hat to you!"

"You're not wearing a hat, Kirsten," Kimberly said, pointing to Kirsten's head. 

"Well, that's okay, Ed knows what you mean!" I said. After a harrowing experience like I'd just been through, sitting down and chatting with my friends like we'd always done didn't feel wrong to me... it felt strangely therapeutic. The more casual the environment, the better and safer I'd feel... and I knew that I was already pretty skilled at bouncing back from traumatic experiences. We continued talking as Sylvan's mom got up to go and retrieve drinks for all of us... non-alcoholic drinks, of course.

"Ed, I've really, really got to be frank with you... it's my fault you were captured," Sylvan said, his tone becoming a lot more serious. "If I hadn't shot that guy, then-"

"Your mother might have been hurt, or raped, or worse," I said, taking Sylvan's hand with both of my own. "You did what you did to protect your mother..."

"But if you had been hurt, Ed... you were hurt, and-"

"Sylvan, it doesn't matter now," I said gently. "No matter what happens, I'll always care about you, Sylvan... I don't blame you for any of this..."

I couldn't blame Sylvan for feeling sad... a few days ago, I'd regretted being too late to stop Sylvan and his mother from being attacked by Frémont's men... I'd been able to save him, but what if I hadn't? Sylvan and I felt the exact same way about each other... but did this mean that I loved him like he said he loved me? I still wasn't quite sure...

"See, Sylvan... Edward doesn't blame you," Sani said, breaking the awkward silence with her light, gentle voice. "You're Ed's friend, and she's not going to stop being your friend just because of a few evil French guys. You've got to put this thing in the past and move on."

"It's just... Ed, we looked everywhere for you," Sylvan said. "Everywhere criminals might hide. Shady clubs, parking garages, storage facilities, book depositories, warehouses..."

__

"They probably drove right past the warehouse Edward was in..." I thought regretfully. _"But... they couldn't have known, and it's good they didn't find Edward... if they had, they might have gotten hurt..."_

"If you hadn't gotten away, there's no telling what might have happened," Sylvan said. "We couldn't pay the ransom, and we couldn't find you either... somehow, I feel like I really, really failed..."

"You didn't fail, Sylvan," I said, gently stroking his face with my hand. "Most people wouldn't even have looked... but you guys did... you're all special for that, and you'll always, always have a place in Edward's heart..."

"Thank you, Ed..." Sylvan said. "Thank you... for everything."

As Sylvan began to pull away, I could feel my hand pulling him closer. I leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek before I finally let him slide back into his seat.

"I still say we should call the cops now that Ed's back," Kirsten remarked. "They've got to do something, file a report at least."

"Kirsten's right," Asada said. "Edward, maybe Frémont's still at wherever he was holding you. If we call the cops, maybe they'll catch him!"

"The taxi cab driver that drove Ed here already called the police," I said. "That's probably good... but Ed's sure the bad men already left by now..."

"Well, if the cops were notified, that's a start, at least," Sylvan said. "We can't let those Syndicate people get away with something like this. You could have been killed, Edward."

"I called the police right after I called you, Sylvan," Sylvan's mom said, returning to the table and setting down eight glasses of sparking white grape soda. "They said they'll come up to conduct an interview with you at your dorm tomorrow, and if you want to do it sooner you can come down to the police station at any time."

"I'll wait until tomorrow," I said, yawning. I didn't realize how tired I was... "Ed is pretty tired right now..."

"If you all want to stay at my house, you can," Sylvan's mom said. "I live really close by... and we've got plenty of sleeping bags that you can all sleep in from our annual camping trip each year. That is, if you want to..."

"We'd be honored, Miss Mazarin," Asada said. "Thank you very much..."

"A toast," Kirsten said, raising her glass. "To my friend Edward, the richest girl in Paris!"

Kirsten's recital of a classic movie line warmed my heart and caused all of us at the table to giggle and raise our glasses. 

"Thank you all for looking so hard for Edward," I said, smiling. "I toast all of you as well!"

---

After drinking the grape juice and carrying on our conversation for at least an hour longer, we finally left the _Fantaisie Sign _and made the short drive to Sylvan's mom's house, just a few blocks away. The house was large and beautiful, its white exterior neatly conforming to the other houses in the small subdivision it was in, one of the few places in Neo-Paris where people lived in houses and not in apartments. We quickly got settled in the large living room of the house as Sylvan's mom cleared out space for seven sleeping bags. I slept second from the left, inbetween Sylvan and Asada. Further down the right lay Kirsten, Sani, Kimberly, and Piripi, in that order. The sleeping bags were cozy and comfortable, and Sylvan's mom had let each of us (except for Sylvan, of course!) wear one of her nightgowns during the night.

"Now, you've all had a really, really long day," Sylvan's mom said, dimming the light in the room, "so try and get some rest. Edward, I'm so glad that you're back with us..."

"I'm glad too, Ed," Sylvan said, looking into my eyes. "I'm so happy you're safe..."

As I shut my eyes, the trials and tribulations of the day slowly began to dim in my mind. _Edward's safe now... and Ed's friends are too... and that's all that matters._

---

__

I had a dream that night... I was under water, desperately struggling to reach the surface. I looked up and saw someone above the blue water, reaching down for me and shouting something I couldn't discern. It was Sylvan! As I struggled to reach him, two strong arms were entrapping my legs, pulling me down further under the water. I began to panic as water rushed into my throat.

"I'm going to drown!" I thought, horrified. "Sylvan!"

I continued to struggle against the grip of whatever was pulling me down. Finally, I managed to dislodge one of my legs from the person's grip and kick whoever it was hard in the face, causing him to shout a gurgled cry and release my other leg. I swam to the surface and leapt out of the water, grabbing the side of Sylvan's boat and taking a loud gasp of air.

"Edward!" Sylvan said, pulling me back into the yacht. "Ed, I thought I'd lost you... I thought you were going to drown!"

"Sylvan..." I breathed, looking up into his eyes. "Edward's going to be alright..."

"Oh, Ed... I couldn't save you... I tried, and tried, but-"

"You helped Ed into the boat, didn't you?" I said, trying to reassure him. "If it wasn't for you, Ed never would have had the strength to pull away... you gave me that strength, Sylvan..."

"Oh, Edward..."

I leaned in toward Sylvan and embraced him. Then, he leaned down and kissed me, his lips enveloping mine. At that moment, I felt so wonderful... I felt... I felt...

---

"Ed? Ed?" 

I looked up to see Asada and Kirsten, dressed in the same clothes they'd worn yesterday, leaning over me. Rubbing my eyes, I sat up and yawned.

"You must have been pretty tired, Ed... it's almost one in the afternoon!" Kirsten said.

  
"I don't blame you for sleeping in, though," Asada said. "Especially after everything you've been through..."

"Unnh... where's Sylvan?" I asked, looking back and forth. After my dream last night, I'd felt like I'd just been completely left hanging... like I needed to hear Sylvan's voice... _is Ed really feeling okay?_

"He's at one of his noon classes," Asada replied. "He really didn't want to wake you, but he said that he loves you and that he's really, really glad you're okay."

"Sani, Kimberly, and Piripi went back to the dorm. Mr. Depardieu's supposed to reveal who gets to go to New-Parisian Liberty later on today," Kirsten said. "Sylvan's mom is in the kitchen.She said that if you want her to make something for you, just ask. Oh yeah, and the cop dude's in there too, waiting to interview you."

"Really?" I yawned. "Guess Edward had better go in there, huh?"

"Well, you should probably get dressed, first," Asada said. "Your clothes are lying neatly on the couch, where Sylvan's mom put them after you went to sleep. She said that you can keep the nightgown, too..."

"Oh, Ed probably shouldn't... it's probably really expensive, and-"

"She insists," Kirsten said. "Asada and I already tried giving ours back. Well, anyway, I'm gonna head back to the college. Asada's staying here so that she can take you back. Bye bye, Ed! Remember, you totally rock!"

Kirsten waved goodbye and walked out the front door, carrying a red nightgown with her. I stood up, picked up my shirt and miniskirt from yesterday, and walked into the bathroom to put them on.

---

After getting dressed, I walked into the kitchen, where Sylvan's mom was sitting at the table with a uniformed police officer. He smiled at me as I entered the room.

"Miss Appledelhi, it's a pleasure to meet you," he said, extending his hand to me. I shook it and sat down at the table across from him. Sylvan's mom got up from the table.

  
"Ed, would you like me to make you anything? Pancakes or bacon, maybe? It's a bit late, but-"

"Ed would like some pancakes, please," I said, as politely as I could. Sylvan's mom smiled at me and walked over to the oven to begin preparing them.

"Now, Francoise... or... Ed, as Miss Mazarin says that you like to be called-"

"Francoise, please," I told the officer, knowing that this was a formal police interview and I wanted to use my real name.

"Francoise, tell us exactly what happened the afternoon of the kidnapping," the officer said.

"Well, I was just about to enter my dorm room when two men approached me from behind," I said. "I turned around to face them, and one of them began talking to me, like he was about to ask me for something. As soon as I replied to him, the two men grabbed me, tied me up, put a bag over my head, and carried me off. They locked me in a car trunk and drove off."

"So, you were placed in a car trunk," the man said, jotting something down on a piece of paper. "You know this, even though you had a bag placed over your head?"

  
"Well, yes," I said. "I could feel the bottom of the trunk and I could hear the lid closing over me and the car driving off. It had to have been a trunk."

"We got an eyewitness report that confirms something being placed in a trunk at about the time and place you said you were abducted," the officer replied. "That can probably be confirmed. Anyway, what happened next?"

"Well..."

I told the officer everything about my captivity, from what Frémont said to me to all the details about my two fights with him, and how I eventually got free and escaped. When I finally finished, he set his pencil and his notepad on the table and stood up to shake my hand again.

"Francoise, you are an incredibly brave and strong young woman," the officer said to me. "What you did was incredible, and your actions most likely saved your life. You're a shining example to people everywhere."

  
"Well, thank you!" I exclaimed, slightly taken aback. I stood up and shook the man's hand. 

"When we sent a unit over to the warehouse where you were allegedly kept, there was no one there," the officer said. "We stayed for several hours, but no one came back. Evidently, they moved somewhere else. Cecelle Frémont is an extremely dangerous man, and we've been dealing with the French Syndicate for many, many years, as they've corrupted many of the members of our police force, including a close, personal friend of mine. While we didn't make any arrests, I know that what you did today will help us get closer to capturing the remaining Syndicate leaders."

"Thank you," I told him again. 

"Ed, are you finished with your pancakes?" Sylvan's mom asked, pointing to the plate from which I'd eaten my pancakes while I'd been talking to the police officer. I nodded and handed her the empty plate.

"Well, you should be very, very proud of yourself, Miss Appledelhi," the officer said. "And you too, Miss Konishi. While it's usually not wise to try and take the law into your own hands, going out and looking for your friend like that was very brave. You're a good friend."

"Thank you," Asada said.

"I'd best be headed back to the station now," the officer said. "Thank you all for your time."

The officer left the house, and I walked over to Sylvan's mom and gave her a hug.

  
"Thank you so much," I said. "Ed will always remember what you and Sylvan did for her..."

"You're a wonderful girl, Ed," Sylvan's mom replied. "Thank goodness you're safe."

  
Taking our nightgown gifts with us, Asada and I left Sylvan's mom's house and got into Asada's car. Then, we headed back toward the college, our dealings with the French syndicate hopefully over.

---

"Daddy!" I said happily, sitting on the bed back in my dorm room and talking to my dad on the videophone. "How are you?"

"Just great, Francoise!" he said. "You didn't call me yesterday, so I got kinda worried... were you just busy?"

"Well, yeah, sorry," I said, a bit reluctant to tell my dad about the whole kidnapping ordeal just yet. "Ed did her interview yesterday!"

"Really? How'd it turn out?" my dad asked excitedly.

"Good, Ed thinks! Ed won't know if she got in until later today, though!" I said.

"Well, that's good," my dad replied. "I'm just glad the interview went well... I know you'll get in, sweetie!"

  
"Yeah," I said.

  
"So, how's the whole Sylvan thing going?" my dad asked. 

  
"Well, we went on a date, and.... we kissed!" I said.

"Wha?" he stammered, stepping back from the screen, his face an expression of shock. "Uh... a lip-to-lip kiss?"

"Uh-huh," I nodded. "It was great!"

"Um... an open-mouth kiss?" he asked nervously.

"No, we didn't quite go that far!" I said. "But you know what they say... when in France, kiss like the French do! Maybe the next time Ed sees him-"

"Francoise, now you know that those kind of kisses are strictly forbidden," my dad said sternly.

"Whyyyyyyyyy?" I said, a big grin on my face.

  
"Uh... because I said so, ya hear me?" he said. "So you tell that French kisser to keep his tongue out of your mouth, you hear?"

"Well, I dunno... our connection's starting to break up, it's getting harder and harder for Ed to hear yoooooou!" 

"Now, you just listen hear, little missy! French men's tongues carry all sorts of diseases, and-"

  
"Oop, outta time gotta go sorry bye-bye!" I said, ending the connection. I knew my dad was mostly joking around with me, at least a little bit, or I wouldn't have hung up on him like I did. We did those kinda things sometimes... but I still felt a bit guilty not telling him about the kidnapping... best not to worry him too much. At least not until I'd gotten back. But... what if he'd heard about it on the news? Would it make the news? He hardly ever watched TV anyway. I could only hope he wouldn't hear about it from _someone_.

---

After the phonecall, I put on some new clothes and headed down to the admissions office to see if there was any news. To my surprise, Mr. Depardieu waved me into his office as soon as I arrived, and I eagerly walked into his room to hear what he had to say.

"Sit down, Miss Appledelhi," he said. I sat down at his desk, and he continued. "As I've said, your records are extremely impressive, and you expressed in your interview a great desire to learn."

As Depardieu spoke, my heart began to lift, and I knew he had only good things to say.

"That is why I've decided to accept your application to Neo-Parisian Liberty College for next semester," Depardieu said, smiling. "Welcome to our university."

He extended his hand to me, and I stood up, almost falling back into my chair because of my excitement. I kept my balance, though, and shook his hand.

"Thank you, thank you, sir!" I said happily. "Did Ed's friends get in as well?"

  
"Well, I can't reveal any information on other applicants, I'm sorry," Depardieu said. "But I'm sure they'll tell you the next time you see them."

"Alright then!" I said. "Thank you again, sir!"

Smiling, I strode out of the room and headed out of the building, walking toward the campus recreational building. 

__

"They'll probably be at the food court," I deduced. _"I hope they all got in!"_

When I arrived at the food court, it didn't take me long to find my friends. Kirsten, Asada, her new (boy)friend Curtis, Piripi, Kimberly, and Sani were all sitting down at a table, eating pepperoni pizza. I ran over and sat down at the table with them.

"Hey, Ed!" Kirsten greeted me. "Want some pizza?"

"Sure!" I said, reaching down and picking up a slice of pepperoni pizza from the large tray on the table. "So... how did it go? Did all of you get in?"

"Of course!" Kirsten said. "Well, I know I did, anyway..."

"Asada got in, too," Curtis said, smiling toward her. "I saw her as she was coming out of the administration building... I'm so happy for her!"

"Sani and I got in as well!" Kimberly said.

"And I did too!" Piripi said proudly. "So that's why we're all here... we're going to have a celebration party!"

"But somewhere other than here, since we come here everyday," Asada said. "It's going to be somewhere special. It can be an 'Ed Is Safe and We're All In College Party'!"

I giggled at the funny defacto title for our celebration. 

"Well, how about the Eiffel Tower?" came a voice from behind me, a voice that I immediately recognized as Sylvan's. "That's always a special place..."

  
"Sylvan!" I squealed, standing up and half-tackling, half-hugging him. "Did you hear the good news?"

"Yes, I did... I'm so glad you all made it!" Sylvan said, hugging me tightly. "So, do you know what dorm you're all going to be in?"

"Well, no," Kirsten said. "We won't find out our living arrangements until this spring, when we get our college packets in the mail. But that old guy said that he'd try our best to put us all together, and he's like the head of admissions and stuff, so what he says really carries a lot of weight around here, hopefully."

I stopped hugging Sylvan and sat back down at the table. Sylvan pulled up a chair and sat down next to me.

  
"So, you want to have the party at the Neo-Eiffel Tower?" Asada asked.

"That would be wonderful!" Kimberly said. "I've only seen it, but I've never actually been there..."

"It's a really wonderful place," Sylvan said.

"Well, you'd know... you guys went there on your date!" Piripi said, pointing at Sylvan and I. 

"And that's where you shared your first, romantic kiss!" Sani said. "Let's go there! Let's have the party there!"

  
"Alright then, it's settled!" Kirsten said. "We'll meet at the Neo-Eiffel Tower tomorrow at... hmmm... eleven o'clock in the morning, is that okay?"

"I'll make the reservations," Sylvan said. "If you guys want to invite anyone, go ahead..."

"My friends and family are all the way back on Earth," Sani said. "That's okay, though, you guys are enough!"

I thought for a second. Should I invite Faye-Faye, Jet, and father-person all the way out to Mars? I guess if Faye-Faye and Jet were passing by, they'd be able to come... nah, that's okay. _I'm sure we could all have our own separate party some other time!_

"This is gonna be awesome!" Kirsten said. 

"I'm really glad all of us got in," I said, a smile on my face. "I don't think I could bear to go through big ol' college without you!"

"Agreed," Sylvan said. "Ed, it's going to be a wonderful few years..."

__

And maybe the rest of our lives...

---

Yay! Ed and her friends are reunited, and they're all going to be in college together! And now they're going to party at the Neo-Eiffel Tower! Nothing can go wrong! It's all uphill from here! It's a sunshine day! It's not like Ed and her friends are on a collision course with one of the worst, most evil villains and his thousands and thousands of evil thugs, right? Right! So then, all that's left is to, um... review. Please? ^_^


	16. You Can Check Out Anytime You Like, But ...

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me. 

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few (non-generic) French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

Writing Note: Sorry it took a week to get this one out... very, VERY busy with school stuff. I'm hoping to have this ficcy completed by the end of Christmas Break in about two weeks. ^_^ For all you profile-watchers out there, a tentative schedule for now is this: Fantaisie Sign chapters during weekdays, with It's No Joke and Bebop: Revolutions chapters written at the rate of once a week during weekends (starting next Sunday!). Looking Into Your Eyes (a sequel to Looking Up To You, my Sailor Moon section Sammy/Ami fic) starts January 6th, a few days after the conclusion of Fantaisie Sign! 

Reviews: (coming Chapter 18!)

---

"Ed? Edward, it's time to go..."

__

"Wha? What's going on?"

I blinked open my eyes and smiled when I saw Sylvan's face directly above my own.

"Ed, it's 10:30... the party's going to start in a half hour! We'd better hurry to the Neo-Eiffel Tower... Kirsten, Asada, and the others are already on their way!"

"Oh.... wow, Ed was so excited about today that Ed didn't get to sleep until two in the morning!" I admitted, rubbing my eyes. "How did you get into Edward's room, anyway?"

"Well, I knocked first, but then when you didn't come to the door I tried the doorknob and it was unlocked," Sylvan said, slightly embarrassed. "I'm really sorry for the intrusion, Ed..."

"No, it's okay... Edward trusts you, Sylvan-person!" I said. "Edward didn't lock her door because all of the bad people that were pranking everyone aren't here anymore!"

"That's true," Sylvan said. "Well, I just came to wake you up... and I'm going to be driving you there, is that okay?"

"Of course it is," I said, knowing that I didn't have a car of my own. "Just let Edward get dressed and then we'll be all ready to go!"

I walked over to my suitcase and took out a white teddy bear shirt and a pair of green shorts, the clothes that I'd worn back on Earth a few days ago... at least I'm pretty sure I wore them. Well, they looked good on me, so I was going to wear them again. I walked into the bathroom and got changed, then came out and placed my nightgown back in my suitcase.

"So, all ready to go now?" Sylvan asked me. I smiled, put on a pair of socks and a pair of shoes, then nodded.

"All ready, Freddy!" I said. We left the dorm building, walked out into the parking lot, got into Sylvan's car, and headed off toward the Neo-Eiffel Tower for the party.

---

"Ed," Sylvan said as we drove through downtown Paris, "how are you holding up?"

"Um... what do you mean?" I asked him, although I knew exactly what he was talking about. He was still concerned about me being kidnapped two days ago... I could see it in his eyes. Most of the bruises and cuts I'd sustained had started to heal, and even though it was a harrowing experience, I was pretty sure I wouldn't retain any emotional scars either. 

"You know," Sylvan said, pointing at one of my still-bruised wrists. "The kidnapping... I mean, are you feeling better?"

"Sylvan," I said, my voice growing serious, "I wouldn't lie to you... I know how much you care about me, but I promise that I'm fine. I'll be fully healed in a few days, and I'm not traumatized at all... but thank you for your concern, really... it means a lot to me."

"Ed, you're so strong... I mean, when I met you and learned more about you, I thought that maybe your... well, your Radical Edward persona, it was trying to hide something... a fragile mental constitution or a deep-seeded incident from your past, but... now I know the truth... you have no weakness, only incredible strength... that's one of the reasons I love you, Edward... with all of my heart and soul."

I paused for a second. He thought I was... weak? No, I'm sure he didn't think that in a bad way... I couldn't quite tell what he meant by his last statement, except for the fact that he greatly admired me. I didn't know what I could point out about Sylvan that I liked... his kindness, his caring nature... when I was around him, I felt a tingle. Was it love? Was I really in love with him? I didn't feel like I was in love with him, I just felt tingly... _oh, I shouldn't be thinking about this now..._

"Ed?" Sylvan said, looking at me. "You okay?"

I blinked. I must've spaced out after what Sylvan told me... how rude of me!  


"Yes, Ed's fine!" I said happily, as if nothing happened. "What did you say to Edward again? _Oh, geez, Ed, NOW you blew it...._"

"Oh, it's nothing... it's just that you're really strong, Ed," Sylvan said. "You're a lot tougher than me!"

"Now, don't be hard on yourself, Sylvan!" I said, smiling. "Ed is sure that you could have beaten up those Syndicate people too! Really!"

"Now now, you said you'd never lie to me...."

"Ed is sure you could! Ed knows it!"

Sylvan chuckled slightly.

  
"Well, if you say so...." Sylvan said, pulling into a parking garage near the Neo-Eiffel Tower. "Looks like we're just about here... right on time! It's 10:52, we had eight minutes to spare!"

  
"Edward hasn't had breakfast..." I said, holding my lightly rumbling stomach.

  
"Well, maybe you can pick up breakfast here... the party's not at the _Fleur De Trois_, but there are plenty of other places near where we're having the party to get a good meal! The party is going to be in a large ice cream shop and arcade on the 16th floor called _Let The Good Times Roll_... I know ice cream's not a very nutritious breakfast, but-"

"No, no, Ed likes ice cream!" I said, licking my lips. "Maybe they have scrambled egg flavored ice cream! Mmm mmm good!"

"Heh, I don't think so," Sylvan said, stepping out of the car. "Well, we'd better get going."

It was probably a good thing that they didn't have scrambled egg ice cream... I tried it once in an ice cream parlor on Earth, out of curiosity. It was horrible. 

"Let's go!" I said, climbing out of the car. We exited the parking garage and began walking toward the Neo-Eiffel Tower. As we left the garage, I couldn't help but notice that there were an unusual number of black Sentinel model cars in the garage... the same ones used by the French syndicate. I began to suspect that something was up, but as we entered the tower, all the troubling thoughts exited my mind as excitement began to creep in. Sylvan and I entered the elevator and took it up to the 16th floor, where the party was just about to begin!

---

When we arrived at the 16th floor, it didn't take a very long time at all to get to _Let The Good Times Roll_, the ice cream shop/arcade that Sylvan had told me about. When we reached it, I immediately saw Asada, Curtis, Piripi, and Kimberly standing by the entrance.

"Edward! Sylvan!" Asada shouted, waving to us. "Isn't this place awesome?"  


"It's just like the place at the college, only it's cooler," Kimberly said, "because it's over 500 feet in the air, and they've got some sweet rides that are actually partially outside!"

"Eh?" Sylvan said. "What do you mean?"

  
"Well, look," Curtis said, leading Sylvan and I into the arcade. The arcade was large, with many tables set up where people could sit and eat ice cream served from a large counter at the center of the room. One of the walls was actually a large, glass window where people could look outside, and near the right side of the wall there was a door that led outside.

"Sani's out there riding one of the rides," Asada said. "She should be coming back in shortly..."

"What about Kirsten?" I asked. "She's not here yet?"

"She's over there," Piripi said, pointing to a large Dance Party machine hooked up to a huge monitor where everyone in the restaurant could see the action. "And she's getting her butt kicked."

"This little Japanese girl named Sukina is going to town on her," Curtis said. "She's only like twelve or something, but she's completely kicking Kirsten's ass."

  
"Maybe you should face her, Ed!" Asada suggested.

"Ed, you play Dance Party?" Sylvan asked, turning toward me.

"Yep, Edward sure does!" I said, nodding my head. "But Ed doesn't want to play Dance Party on an empty stomach... Ed wants to eat breakfast first."

"Ed, mom said to give you this," Sylvan said, handing me a money card. "This has 250,000 wulongs on it, and she insists that you take it."

As Sylvan handed me the money card, I was very reluctant to take it.

"But... Ed can't take money from you guys," I said, gently handing Sylvan the card back. "I mean... don't Fremont's thugs still come to your restaurant?"

"They didn't come at all yesterday," Sylvan said. "Mom thinks you and I scared them off... as a token of her appreciation, she insists you take it... and so do I. Half of it's my money."

"Well... okay," I said, finally taking the card. "But Ed promises to pay you back later, okay?"

"Don't worry about it," Sylvan replied.

"Well, I'm ready to start the party if you guys are..." Kimberly said.

"Curtis, do you want to go outside and ride the scary rides with me?" Asada asked him. As my friends began to go off and play games or ride rides, I walked over to the counter and ordered a large, two-scoop cookie dough ice cream cone. 

__

"I guess ice cream's better than no breakfast at all!" I reasoned as I started to lick the ice cream cone. _"At least Ed won't be hungry anymore!"_

As I sat down to eat my ice cream, Sylvan sat across from me.

  
"Ed, when you're done eating that, would you like to ride one of the rides?" Sylvan asked. "There's one that lets you zoom in a tram car up a tunnel inside the tower... it goes all the way up to the top and then comes back down to the side of the restaurant... it's supposed to be really fun!"

"Well, okay!" I said, quickly devouring my ice cream cone. I loved ice cream, and I usually ate it pretty fast, barely even taking the time to lick off all the ice cream. Usually, I just wolfed the thing down. It was really easy to get a brain freeze that way, but they weren't really a problem for me. And I just loved ice cream!

"Ed, are you sure you should eat it that fast?" Sylvan asked as I quickly ate the second scoop all the way down to the cone. I grinned, but didn't say a word. "Guess that's a yes."

"You guys, you guys... especially you, Ed... you gotta come see this!" Kirsten shouted, huffing and puffing as if she was completely out of breath. "There's this girl, and-"

"Curtis told us already, Kirsten," I said, finishing the last of my ice cream cone. "Her name is Sukina, and she completely owned you at the Dance Party game."

"She's beating _everybody_," Kirsten said. "Evidently, she just moved here to Paris from Neo-Japan, and she's like a big-time tournament player over there, number one in the whole country. She played me on Grandmaster mode and utterly annihilated me!"

"Ed will dance with Sukina-person later... Sylvan offered Ed a ride on the zoom boom Eiffel-Tower tram, and Ed wants to go on that first, okay?"

"Alright... but when you face off with Sukina, you gotta tell me... I wanna see her go down!" Kirsten said eagerly.

"Um... it's on the big TV screen," I said, pointing up at it. "If Ed is facing Sukina, you'll know. Besides, how can you be so sure that Ed will win? Last time Ed faced you, Ed barely won... and Sukina completely crushed you!"

"True," Sylvan said. "But I've got a lot of faith in you, Ed."

  
"Well, let's ride the tram first," I said, getting up from the table. "Sylvan?"

"Coming, Ed!" Sylvan said, getting up from the table and taking my hand. Together, we walked outside and through the narrow tunnel that lead to the queue line for the tram ride. Surprisingly, we didn't have long to wait before a friendly ride attendant helped us to our seats. We sat down in a small, capsule-like seat where we were scrunched fairly close together... an arrangement that I liked. The attendant lowered a riding bar down, securing us in our seats. 

"This ride gets pretty fast," the friendly female ride attendant said. "Make sure to look out the windows to see the Parisian skyline!"

"Alrighty!" I said, smiling. The transparent top of the capsule closed over us, and the ride began to move forward along the track. The track of the ride had been placed entirely inside one of the large, hyperlexan pillars that formed the outer shape of the second leg of the Neo-Eiffel Tower, so the ride was inside, where it wouldn't cause a visual distraction to outside observers. After a few seconds of straightforward movement, the track rapidly became steeper.

"Are you scared, Ed?" Sylvan asked, smiling at me and holding my hand.

"Oh... a little bit!" I said, playing along. "What about you, Sylvan?"  


"Well, honestly, I'm-"

  
And then, WHOOSH! The ride zoomed straight up the side of the tower, and as we looked out the buildings shrunk rapidly below us. As I let out a loud, piercing scream, I was amused by the fact that Sylvan began screaming a split second before I did. I clutched his hand tighter as the ride surged upward, nearly a mile up into the air. Then, as it reached the very top, it stopped. I looked out the side of the capsule and saw Neo-Paris from nearly a mile in the air. My hair began floating up as the gravity inside our capsule seemingly became zero.

"Edward... that's pretty wild," Sylvan said as he saw my hair floating out of shape.

"Yours is doing it too, Sylvan... just not as much since your hair is shorter," I said. "One last kiss?"  


"Okay," Sylvan said, giving me a brief kiss on the lips. Just as he had finished kissing me, we began to fall, and Sylvan and I started screaming again. As we descended thousands of feet down the tower, we must have been going at least a hundred and fifty miles an hour as the ride finally began to decelerate. At long last, the ride backed into the station, and our capsule opened. 

"Sylvan," I said, breathing heavily, "that was some rush..."

"I'm never, ever doing that again," Sylvan breathed, a smile on his face. 

"Oh, Edward enjoyed it!" I said, helping Sylvan climb out of the ride. "We should do it again sometime!"

"Not again... that ride was-"

  
"I mean this," I said, leaning in and kissing Sylvan on the lips. As I pulled away, his cheeks turned bright red.

"Oh... that," Sylvan said. "Yeah, that was fun..."

  
"It's great, isn't it?" Sani said, walking over to us. "Of course, Asada got motion sickness... she's in the bathroom throwing up. Curtis went with her. He didn't go inside the bathroom, of course."

"It's fun!" I said, smiling at Sani. "Poor Asada, though..."

"Well, Ed... are you up for the challenge of playing that girl at Dance Party? You know, Sukina?" Sylvan asked.

  
"Sure... just let Edward catch the last of her breath," I said, stopping for a few moments to gather all my energy back. "Alright, let's dance!"

---

As Sylvan, Sani, and I began to walk toward the Dance Party machine, I could already see that a large crowd had gathered around it. I looked up at the huge monitor and saw that someone was losing... badly.

"Sukina's gonna do it again!" said a man standing near the machine. "Incredible!"

As we stepped up and gently worked our way through the crowd, I could finally get a glimpse at the two people who were dancing. One of them was a short, Japanese girl with two cute pigtails, wearing a Hello Kitty sweater and a pair of blue jeans. That must be Sukina. The other girl I recognized as my friend Piripi. As I called out to her, the game ended, and Sukina had accumulated nearly twelve times as many points as Piripi had. _There's no way Ed can win this..._

"Darn," Piripi said, stepping down from the Dance Party platform. She walked over to Sukina and smiled. "Nice match!"

"Yeah, but I kicked your butt," Sukina said in a slightly haughty tone.

__

"That wasn't very nice," I thought.

"Well, who's next?" Sukina asked, looking around the room. "Anyone? Anyone?"  


"Ed, Ed, go up there!" Kirsten yelled from the middle of the crowd, waving her arms in the air. "Go challenge her!"

__

"Well, here goes nothing," I said, stepping up to the second platform. "Radical Edward will challenge you!"  


"Radical Edward?" Sukina said, snickering. "What kind of dumb nickname is that?"

"Hey, be nice!" Kirsten yelled. "Edward's gonna whoop you good!"

"You shut up, I've already beaten you," Sukina snapped, turning back to me. "Are you ready? We're playing on Grandmaster mode!"

  
"Fine with Edward!" I said, placing my money card in the machine, then pulling it out after it had deducted 200 wulongs. "Let's play!"

After the way Sukina had treated my friends, I grew a bit more determined to beat her... but would my newfound determination be enough? Sukina had scored nearly twice the points that Kirsten did when they played each other, and I had only beaten Kirsten by a tiny amount. This would definitely be an uphill battle...

"Good luck, Sukina," I said, trying to be as cordial as possible. "May the best girl win!"

As we began dancing, it took me a few seconds to adjust to the difficulty of the Grandmaster mode, where I had to make a large number of steps in a very short amount of time. On top of that, the song was extremely fast, and I found myself missing quite a few steps at the beginning. Once I'd adjusted to the pace of the song, I did surprisingly well, and kept the same pace as Sukina did, scoring a 177-move combo to stay in the game. As the first round ended, Sukina's score stood at 59,508,347, while mine stood at 48,113,240, the difference obviously being my slow start. The audience surrounding the game applauded my performance.

"Nobody's been that close after the first round in quite some time," Sukina said, in a bit nicer tone than before. "You're not bad...."

"Thank you," I replied. "You only missed a few steps that whole round."

"Yeah, well, I'm the best!" Sukina said. _There she goes again..._

The second round began, and again, Sukina insisted on picking the song. This time, it was a bit slower, but again, I had to adjust, as the song, an obscure Middle Eastern piece, had many unusual rhythms and beats. As Sukina hit all of them perfectly, I realized that she'd had tons of practice through tournaments, and probably knew all of the songs by heart. _I'm doomed..._

"C'mon, Ed!" Kirsten shouted at me. "You can beat her! You have to! I know you can!"

"Go, Ed! Go, Ed!" Sani cheered, although her cheers were quickly drowned out by the crowd cheering for Sukina. As the round ended, her lead had swelled to nearly twenty million points.

"I can't be beaten!" Sukina shrieked. "Yay!"

I looked out into the crowd. When my eyes met Sylvan's, he shot me a reassuring glance. At least I knew that I had the support of Sylvan and my other friends... but there was no way that could be enough. 

"I'm picking the song again," Sukina said. "So there."

  
"Wait," I said, my voice turning angry. "I want to pick the song."

  
"Oooh, really?" Sukina said condescendingly. "Well, my rule is that I'm younger, so I get to pick!"

"Look, you're already up by twenty million!" I said, half-shouting. "Just let me pick for the final round. You know all the dumb songs anyway!"

"Fine, whatever," Sukina said. "Pick it and let's get this over with."

As I scrolled through the list of songs, I tried to find something that I could at least do well with. Just as I started to scroll back to pick an average-sounding song that I could dance to easily, I scrolled forward once more. When I heard the song, my eyes lit up. The song was entitled _Cybernetic Era (featuring Marie Mazarin)_. It was the song that she'd sung back at the _Fantaisie Sign_! I loved that song, and there was her voice... _I guess even video game designers eat at Sylvan's mom's restaurant! _I pressed the button to select it, and Sukina let out a squeal of dismay.

"Not that one!" Sukina shouted. "I hate that stupid song!"

"You don't like it?" I asked. "But it's so beautiful..."

"I never pick that dumb song!" Sukina squealed. "The lady who sings it sounds so dumb and stupid... like she's drunk or something!"  


I looked back at Sylvan, who seemed to be wincing, struggling not to burst forth in anger. As I turned back toward the screen, the song began, and something immediately seemed wrong. Sukina was messing up!

"Darn it, I hate this stupid song!" Sukina cried as she danced with slightly less flair than before. I began a large combo and my score quickly surged toward hers.

"You can do it!" Kirsten shouted. "She's going to choke her lead away! It's already down to ten million!"

  
My combo rose, past 150... past 200... even though Sukina was doing almost as well as I was by the end of the song, I continued to catch up.

"Beat her, Ed!" Kimberly shouted from the back of the crowd.

"Go Ed!" Piripi yelled. "Goooo!"

Finally, the song was over. Sukina cursed angrily and kicked the platform she had been dancing on. I stopped paying attention to the score, so I didn't know if I'd won or lost. Finally, the results screen came up. We both looked at it, and Sukina jumped up in delight.

  
"Yaaaaaay! I win again!" Sukina said. The final score read 211,830,080 for Sukina and 208,435,221 for me. I'd lost by less than four million points... my comeback was just too little, too late.

"Hey, you put up a good match," said a teenaged girl who had been watching the game. "You almost won, Radical Edward!"

  
"Yeah, that was pretty close," said someone else. "At least we know Sukina's not totally unbeatable..."

"I won, you lost!" Sukina said, pointing at me with a grin on her face. I extended my hand to try and congratulate her, but she rudely slapped it away. "And we're never playing again, either. You had your chance."

  
Sighing, I walked away from the platform and strolled over to my friends, Sylvan, Kimberly, Piripi, Sani, and Kirsten. Curtis and Asada still hadn't returned.

  
"It's okay, Ed... you did your best," Sylvan said. "I know you're an awesome dancer, you don't need to beat some bratty girl to prove that to me."

  
"Yeah, Ed... you did a lot better than I did!" Kirsten said. "Still woulda been nice for you to win, though..."

  
"Oh, don't say that, Kirsten... Ed did a wonderful job!" Piripi said. "C'mon, guys, group hug!"

The six of us began to embrace. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out from the entrance of the room. People began to scream and panic, as a large crowd began pushing their way toward the door. Another gunshot rang out.

  
"Everybody freeze!" shouted a loud voice from the door. Two more gunshots. Finally, everyone stopped moving and stood still. I tiptoed to try and see what was going on, and saw ten thugs standing at the door, all of them armed to the teeth with automatic machine guns in their hands. _Oh no..._

"What's going on?" I whispered, turning to Sylvan. "It's... it's the French syndicate, isn't it?"

"Stay calm, Ed... they're not here to hurt us... I don't think," Sylvan said, extremely worried.

"Now," said one of the thugs, holding up his M-16, "here's how we're going to do this. You're all going to start heading toward the door in an orderly fashion. Anyone pushes, or starts running, and we'll fire into the crowd. Now, calmly begin walking toward the exit."

The people in the restaurant, including us, began to do as they were told. My friends and I were toward the back of the crowd, and we could see as many of the people walked past the ten thugs and filed out of the restaurant. Soon, Piripi, Kimberly, and Sani had made it past the men. As Sylvan, Kirsten and I got up to them, they pointed their guns at us and the rest of the crowd behind us, consisting of about fifteen people.

"Stop right there," the lead thug said, pointing his gun right at my chest. "You lucky people get to stay here and be bargaining chips. Go sit down."

My heart sank to the bottom of my chest. As we began to sit down, I could see that Sukina was also one of the ones remaining. She was trembling in fear, as her parents had gotten out of the room, but she had been left behind in the crowd. Before she could sit down, one of the thugs grabbed her by the arm.

"You can come with me," the thug said, leading Sukina out of the restaurant. As she began trying to get away from him, he pointed his gun at her head. "You come with me, or you're dead."

As tears began to stream down the little girl's face, I shifted in my chair and turned to Sylvan. 

"She's gonna get raped!" I whispered. "We've got to help her somehow!"

"I agree," Sylvan whispered back. "But how are we going to get away?"

As I turned back toward the front of the restaurant, I could see that the thugs were beginning to secure the hostages in the restaurant to the chairs with duct tape. As one of the men walked up to the chair where I was seated, I saw my chance. I leapt up from the chair and pushed the man out of the way, then fell to the ground and began rolling toward the front of the restaurant. The man immediately started shooting at me, but fortunately, all of the shots missed. I stood up and ran, out of the restaurant and around a corner where I couldn't be seen. Squinting and closing my eyes, I immediately thought the worst... that the men would start shooting the other hostages as retribution for my escape. When no shots came, I looked around the corner and back into the restaurant. Two of the thugs were walking around, looking for me, while one of them carried Sukina down the corridor on the other side of the restaurant's entrance.

__

"I've gotta get to that guy..." I thought. However, before I could think of a plan to follow him, I had to duck into the women's restroom as one of the thugs came closer. As I got toward the stalls, I could hear loud moaning noises coming from one of them. _"That's weird..."_

As I came closer to investigate, the door swung open, and when I looked inside, I could see Asada and Curtis on the floor, kissing deeply. Curtis' hands were rapidly caressing Asada's back. Fortunately, they were both still fully clothed...

"Um... guys?" I said as innocently as I could. They looked up and immediately recoiled in shock, rapidly picking themselves up off the floor.

"Ed, what the hell?" Curtis shouted.

  
"Edward, um... Curtis came in to check on me, and, um... we started kissing, and..."

"Asada, Ed thought you were throwing up," I said.

  
"Well, yeah... Curtis didn't kiss me until I stopped throwing up, duh," Asada said, smiling.

"Look, this is an emergency!" I shouted. "Fremont's thugs have taken over the ice cream arcade! Sylvan and Kirsten are inside as hostages!"

  
"What?" Asada said in disbelief. "There's no way-"

  
"And there's a girl named Sukina who's going to get hurt really bad if we don't find her and save her!" I shouted. "Please, we've gotta help them..."

Just then, the PA system came on, and we could hear a frantic voice from the small speaker above our heads.

"Everyone... terrorists have taken over the building... terrorists have taken over the building!" shouted the voice over the speaker. "They've seized most of the floors, and-"

Then, gunshots and silence. Asada, Curtis, and I stood speechless for a few seconds before Asada began to sob.

"This can't... be happening," Asada said. "Not to me... not to my friends..."

"Asada, we'll get out of here alive," Curtis said, trying to comfort her while embracing her tightly. 

"That's right... we'll all find some way to get out... we have to find a way," I said, my voice trembling. 

Just then, another voice came over the speaker.

"This is Cecelle Frémont, the leader of the French Syndicate, _Rose du Diable_. The Neo-Eiffel Tower is now ours, and there is a bomb planted somewhere in the building that we can detonate at any time, killing all inside. If you all cooperate, I assure you that you will all survive and be back to your homes and loved ones by the end of the day... if you all cooperate. If not, the bomb will be detonated, and we will all perish. Do everything that my Syndicate men say, however, and no harm will come to you. That is all."

__

No...

---

The odds are incredible! Edward and her friends vs. thousands of thugs... Sylvan and Kirsten as hostages, and Ed, Asada, and Curtis stuck in the women's restroom? And what will become of Piripi, Kimberly, and Sani? And for that matter, can our heroes rescue Sukina in time as well? The last five chapters will tell all... 


	17. You're Taking Over Me

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me. 

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few (non-generic) French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

Reviews: (coming Chapter 18... that's next chapter!)

---

How could this have happened? Today was supposed to be the best day of my life, but it had collapsed into a terrible ordeal of terror and bloodshed. As Frémont's voice came over the PA, all I could think about was that we were all going to die... my friends... Sylvan... everyone...

"This is horrible," Asada sobbed, tears streaming down her face. "How could the French syndicate possibly have taken over this huge building? There must be thousands of them... tens of thousands... we'll never make it out alive! We'll never-"

  
"Calm down," Curtis said, placing his finger to Asada's lips. "I know we can find a way to save everyone, if we just calm down."

"But they're right outside," Asada whispered, her voice trembling. "Right outside this room... as soon as we step out, they'll shoot all three of us!"

"Edward doesn't think so," I said, trying my best to come up with a plan. My three main objectives now were as follows: keeping Sukina from being raped, saving Sylvan and Kirsten, and escaping from the building with my friends and I, safe and sound. _Easier said than done... _"I'll tell you what. I'll check outside, and if any of the bad men are there, I'll come back here."

"But what if you're seen?" Asada said frantically.

"I won't be," I promised her. "Ed will signal if the coast is clear."

Leaving Asada and Curtis inside the bathroom stall, I quietly crept out and made my way toward the entrance of the restroom. When I went in here the first time, the Syndicate men passed by this area, but I was still extremely afraid... they could be waiting outside, after all. Shivering, I walked up to the entrance and slowly peeked around the corner to take a look outside... 

__

"Oh please, oh please, oh please..."

Nothing. Not a single Syndicate person in sight. At the far left side of my field of vision, I spotted the ice cream restaurant, where Sylvan and Kirsten were still trapped as hostages. No Syndicate members were standing outside, but I could see several men milling inside the restaurant. The rest of the people on the floor must have been evacuated, thankfully...

"Ed," Asada whispered, peeking her head out of the bathroom stall. "See anything?"  


"The coast is clear," I whispered back to her. "But be very, very careful..."

Asada and Curtis slowly walked out of the stall and made their way to the entrance of the restroom, until they were standing right beside me. We could all see the restaurant and the Syndicate thugs inside.

"We're not going back there, are we?" Asada asked.

"Not yet," I said. "That little girl Edward told you guys about... we've gotta save her first!"

"Wait, wait, wait, Ed," Curtis said, waving his arms. "We don't even know where she is... this floor is huge, she could be anywhere!"

"Well, think about places a bad man would take a little girl," I said, my mind beginning to brainstorm. "Storage closets, that sort of thing."

"What about bathrooms?" Asada asked. "Ruling out this one, of course."

"Bingo," I whispered. "She might have been rude to Edward, but... we can't let her get hurt! She's just a child..."

"What if someone sees us?" Asada said in a worried tone. "We're unarmed... we'd be dead meat!"

"Asada, I promise you... I won't let you get hurt," Curtis said. He pointed to the cut above Asada's eye, which still hadn't fully healed from the ordeal back at the _Fantaisie Sign_. "I won't let those Syndicate jerks hurt you again..."

"Thanks," Asada said, kissing Curtis on the cheek. "I trust you... plus, I'm confident that if worse comes to worse, I can take care of myself as well... thanks, guys."

"Then let's go," I said, pointing to the right side of the corridor. It seemed to circle around, so I was sure that a round-about path would take us back to the restaurant, and we wouldn't get lost. "Search every little doorway you find..."

Quietly and carefully, we began to walk down the corridor. I was worried that the thugs inside the restaurant would look back and see us, but evidently they were too preoccupied with guarding the hostages. _Kirsten, Sylvan, please be okay..._

"First door," Asada said, pointing to a small, white door that read 'Maintenance'. "Be careful..."

"Wait," I said, putting my hand on the doorknob. "There could be anything inside here... if the bad man's in there, he might start shooting."

"You're right," Asada said, her voice trembling. "Ed..."

"It'll be alright," Curtis said reassuringly. "Open it up, Ed."

I twisted the knob and opened the door. Inside, there were brooms, a few toolboxes, and a couple of mops. No people.

  
"Not here," I said, getting more and more worried for Sukina's safety. "Maybe we should split up..."

"I don't want to leave Asada," Curtis said, Asada's hand tightly gripping his own. "And I don't think it's a good idea for you to leave either."

"But... but that man, he might be getting ready to rape Sukina!" I protested. "The longer it takes to find her, the more danger she's in!"  


"Ed's right," Asada said before Curtis got a chance to speak again. She released her grip on Curtis' hand. "I really don't want to do this... but... we've got no choice. We have to find that girl!"

"Asada, I... are you sure you're going to be alright?" Curtis asked, looking into her eyes.

"Edward is sure," I said, trying to dissuade both of their fears. "Asada is really tough... we've fought Syndicate bad guys before."

  
"That's right," Asada said, cracking a slight smile. "Curtis, this is a risk we've got to take... I believe that we were missed by the thugs for a reason. We're probably three of the last free people left in here, and we need to do as much as we can to help those who are still trapped... we have to protect them. It's our duty."

"Wow," I said, a bit stunned by Asada's sudden determination. "That was good, Asada."

"I'm trying to calm myself down, okay?" Asada said, her frantic tone returning.

"Well, I'm sold," Curtis said. "But once we save that girl... where do we meet?"  


"Women's restroom, same as before," I said. "Try to get anything you can from that thug when you find him. His guns and any weapons he has..."

"We're going to storm the restaurant too?" Asada asked.

  
"We'll try... but we have to save Sukina first," I said. "Ed knows we can do this... we have to... "

"Then let's get going," Curtis said. As soon as he'd finished speaking, we all began searching the various rooms in the corridor, being careful to avoid being detected by any Syndicate thugs who might be roaming around. Even though we'd agreed to split up, we stuck pretty close to one another, and I only lost sight of Curtis and Asada twice during the search. After making it almost all the way around the corridor (finding absolutely no one at all, including Syndicate thugs. The evacuation had gone rather smoothly), I began to lose hope. I slumped up against a door and sighed.

"What's the use?" I said quietly, a tear starting to form in my eye. "We're... not going to find Sukina..."

And then, I heard it. A girl's scream coming from one of the nearby office rooms, the room right next to the room that I'd just checked. _But how did Ed miss it? _Of course, it wasn't a closet or a bathroom, so I hadn't checked it... it was an office! I looked around for Asada or Curtis, but I couldn't see either of them. Slowly sidling over to the office's door, I put my hand on the doorknob and prepared myself for the worst. We'd searched the floor rather quickly, but it had still been probably fifteen minutes since the man carried Sukina away... who knows what could've happened in that time? My muscles began to tense... sweat poured down my brow... _Ed isn't ready for this, Ed isn't ready for this... snap out of it, Edward!_

I threw open the door, and there was Sukina. The Syndicate thug who had carried her off was lying on the floor on top of her, pinning both of her arms over her head with one of his own. He'd already stripped her down to her undergarments, but I was pretty sure that he hadn't raped Sukina yet, which caused me to sigh with relief. The man himself had his pants down around his knees (not his underwear, though, just his neatly-pressed pants)... I'd literally caught him with his pants down. As he turned to look at me, I struck, leaping at him and kicking him hard in the face, sending him sprawling across the room.

"Leave Sukina alone, you jerk!" I shouted, rage overcoming me. As the stunned Syndicate thug began to reach for his weapon, I dove toward him and punched him in the arm, causing the pistol he was carrying to skid along the floor, toward Sukina. I rolled off of the man and stomped on his groin before he could get to his feet, causing him to howl in pain and pass out on the ground, his mouth wide open.

"Ed, what happened?" Asada whispered, rushing into the room along with Curtis. "Are you..."

"Holy crap!" Curtis shouted, seeing the Syndicate thug passed out on the floor. As I began to dust myself off, Sukina wearily rose to her feet, tears streaming down her face.

"Oh... oh... my god..." she gasped, looking up at me. "How did... why did..."

"Sukina," I said, picking her slightly ripped clothes up from the desk and walking over to her. "These are yours, Ed presumes?"

"Thank you... thank you so much!" Sukina sobbed, collapsing into my chest and wrapping her arms around my waist. "I... can never repay-"

"Don't worry about it," I said, hugging her tightly. "I'm just glad you're safe, Sukina. Did he... he didn't-"

"He would have if it weren't for you," Sukina said, regaining her composure slightly. She slowly put her clothes back on, and as she did I could see the bruises on her face and the thin trickle of blood coming from the right side of her lip. She'd probably been smacked around a few times... I began to get angry again, and for a second, I thought about picking up the gun on the ground and... _no... was Edward really thinking this? _

"I'm glad that's over," Asada said, leaning down and picking up the gun that had been lying on the ground. "Now we can save Sylvan and Kirsten, right?"

"Edward..." Sukina said, sniffling and looking up at me. "Why did you save me, Ed? After I treated you so badly... why did you risk your life to come save me?"

"Sukina, I couldn't have just left you here to get hurt," I said, gently wiping away her tears with my hand. "You're not a mean person, Sukina... I know you're not... but if that bad person had had his way with you here, you might never get the chance to show the world the wonderful person I know you are!"

  
"You don't... really think that, do you, Ed?" Sukina said, her cynical tone starting to return. "I mean... you can't possibly... I was so mean to you, and-"

"Sukina, everyone deserves a second chance," I said seriously. "All I want is a second chance for our friendship, okay?"

"You... really want to be friends?" Sukina said longingly, her eyes lighting up. "Even after I-"

"Just forget it, Sukina... forget our game of Dance Party, even forget I saved you... let's just start over, okay? My name is Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivuruski the 4th! What's your name?"

Sukina began to giggle. As I looked over at Curtis and Asada, I could see Curtis whispering something to her, but I couldn't tell quite what it was.

"Thanks, Ed..." Sukina said, hugging me again. Just then, the thug whom I'd just knocked out began to groan. I gasped, but Sukina quickly ran over and kicked the man in the head as hard as she could, knocking him out again. "That's for hurting me..."

Sukina spat on the unconscious thug and walked over to me. I smiled. 

__

"She's a nice girl, Edward knows it... she's just a bit jaded is all. But... I can't let her be in this place any longer. I've got to get her out of this tower somehow... it's too dangerous!"

I took Sukina's hand, then led her over to Asada and Curtis. _Ed is just gonna have to save Sylvan alone..._

"What's up, Ed?" Asada said as I placed Sukina next to them.

"Sukina, you're going to have to go with them, alright?" I said. "This is Asada, and that's Curtis. You three are going to get out of here together. They're good people, Sukina, I promise."

"Ed, are you crazy?" Curtis said. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to save Sylvan and Kirsten, that's what I'm doing," I said, starting to walk out of the room. "You guys get out of here, Ed is sure you can find a way. They're letting most of the people out of the tower, just find a crowd that's evacuating and follow them. You _have _to get Sukina out of here."

"Ed, no!" Asada yelled. "You can't, not alone!"

"I _have _to, Asada. I promise, nothing will happen to me... I'll get Sylvan and Kirsten out, and-"

"Not by yourself!" Asada pleaded, tears streaming down her face. "Ed, no!"

"This is just something Ed has to do," Curtis said, clutching Asada's hand again. "Asada, Edward trusted us to be safe... now we have to trust Ed."

"But... she can't take on all of those Syndicate thugs by herself!" Asada shouted. "No one can!"

"She saved me," Sukina said softly. "I haven't known Ed for very long, but... she saved my life, and, even more amazingly, almost beat me at Dance Party! If anyone can do the impossible, it's Edward... that is your name, right?"

I nodded.

"If you see any of the bad Syndicate men, use the gun.... and don't worry, I'll be safe," I said, hugging Asada. "Bye bye gotta go now!"

I ran out of the room and walked around the corridor. Looking behind me, I could see Curtis, Asada, and Sukina heading for the nearest elevator. _Thank goodness... Edward doesn't know if she can save you all by herself, Sylvan... but she's certainly going to try!_

But when I got around to the ice cream restaurant again, I was confronted with an incredible sight. The entire restaurant was completely devoid of people, save for a few corpses lying on the ground... all of them Syndicate thugs. Chairs lay strewn about with pieces of duct tape hanging off the sides. I absolutely couldn't believe it... my fear and trepidation were replaced with an incredible feeling of relief. The hostages in the restaurant must have escaped! But... but how?

"Hello, hello?" I said softly. "Is there anybody in here?"

I walked around the empty restaurant for a few moments. There was no sign of life, anywhere... the arcade machines were still playing, but there was no one around... then, I heard a sound from behind me. 

__

"Footsteps!" I thought, spinning around. _"Someone's still in here..."_

But before I could began looking around the restaurant again, a hand clasped over my mouth. With a muffled shout, I threw my elbow back toward whoever had grabbed me, catching them right in the stomach. I heard a sharp intake of breath, and as I spun around to see who had grabbed me, I gasped.

"Kirsten!" I said, and I began to feel embarrassed as my red-haired friend stumbled about, clutching her stomach. "You know, you really shouldn't grab someone like that..."

"It's... alright," Kirsten gasped as she looked up at me and started to get her wind back. "Sorry about that... you're really jittery, you know that?"

With a smile and a giggle, Kirsten hugged me, and I giggled and hugged her back. Then, I began to speak.

"What happened here?" I asked curiously, looking around the room. "Did you guys.... you escaped, didn't you? Where's Sylvan?"

"Of course we escaped... oh man, Ed, your boyfriend is a badass!" Kirsten said. "Of course, I had a hand in the escape too... along with the thirteen other people. It was pretty much a group effort... no casualties, isn't that amazing? Well, there were some Syndicate casualties... the ones that aren't dead are taped up in one of the bathrooms."

"But... where is Sylvan?" I asked, glad that everyone had escaped but still worried about my friend.

"He's looking for Frémont... and he says he's going to settle the score with him, once and for all. I tried to get him to wait here with me for you, but he insisted... oh yeah, and he managed to get the exact location of the bomb from one of the guys here!"

"What?" I said, shocked at the good news. "But... where is it?"

"It's at the center of the tower, which is on the 75th level," Kirsten said, and I beckoned her to continue. "Guess what? It's run by a computer program. That means that-"

I could hack it! I could hack the bomb and deactivate it! I knew that there were probably thousands of police and military personnel outside... there had to be, right? I mean, this was a huge terrorist attack that we were dealing with here... they wouldn't be able to fight the Syndicate thugs, though, because of the bomb! So if I could deactivate the bomb...

"If you could hack the thing and deactivate it, the SWAT teams could come in and save everybody!" Kirsten said jubilantly. 

But... wait... one problem.

  
"Ed doesn't have her Tomato," I said sadly. "That's where all of Ed's special super-duper hacking programs are... but it's back at my dorm room!"

"Oh.... oh, crap," Kirsten replied. "That's no good-"

  
"Wait!" I shouted, an idea creeping into my head. "Edward can write a hacking program!"

"On the fly? All quick-like?" Kirsten said. "How fast can you program a computer?"

"Well, duh," I said. "I'm Radical Edward! Follow meeeeee!"

Remembering that there was a laptop computer in the office where I'd stopped the thug's attack on Sukina earlier, I ran toward the office, with the still-winded Kirsten struggling to keep up. Finally, I reached the office and ran inside. I casually walked over to the laptop computer, when suddenly, the thug from earlier stood up and smiled at me, a vicious look on his face.

"It's you!" the thug shouted, wiping a stream of blood from his nose. "Say goodnight, girlie."

"Ed, duck!" Kirsten shouted from behind me. As I hit the deck, I could hear a loud burst of gunfire from Kirsten's general direction. Looking toward her, I saw her holding an M-16 in her right hand, her finger on the trigger. _Oh, Kirsten..._

"Kirsten, where'd you get that?" I said, standing up. Suddenly, I remembered. All of the Syndicate thugs in the restaurant had them... Kirsten must have picked one up from one of the dead thugs. 

"Back at the restaurant," Kirsten said, still holding the gun. "I... didn't want to kill him, Ed, you know that-"

  
"You had to, Kirsten," I said consolingly. I looked at the dead thug's corpse on the ground, then leaned down and picked up the laptop from the desk next to him. "Thanks... I owe you one."

"What was that?" shouted a voice from the doorway. _Asada..._

"Asada, Edward told you to take Sukina somewhere safe!" I yelled at her.

"It's okay, Curtis still has her," Asada said. "We met up with a group who was leaving on the first floor... it's chaos down there... there are helicopters and stuff everywhere outside... they won't come in because-"

"Of the bomb," Kirsten said. "Edward's gonna go stop it!"  


"Wait, wait, how did you get back here?" I asked. "The Syndicate men wouldn't have let you come back up in an elevator..."

"So I took the stairs," Asada said. "There's nobody covering them... I couldn't believe it either."

"We should probably take the stairs up to the 75th floor then," Kirsten suggested.

"I'll show you," Asada said. "Follow me."

---

It didn't take long to get to the stairs from the office. As we began climbing the long flights of stairs leading up the tower, we made especially sure to look for any Syndicate thugs that may be patrolling the stairs.

"They're probably crawling everywhere on the 75th floor, you guys," Asada said. "Ed, are you sure you can do this?"

"Edward has to do this, you know that," I said. "If I don't diffuse the bomb, a lot of people could still die. There are probably hostages on every floor, just like Sylvan and Kirsten were."

"True..." Kirsten said as we passed the 50th floor. "If we... if we don't make it out alive-"

"We will make it out alive, you guys!" I said, trying to calm Asada and Kirsten down, but mostly trying to calm myself down. "All we have to do is be careful and stay focused..."

"There's probably a hundred guys on that floor... " Asada said nervously. "They have to protect the bomb or their whole plan goes bust."

  
"Guys, let's try to think pleasant thoughts, okay?" I said. The more that Asada and Kirsten worried, the more terrified I became... and I was terrified already! This was probably ten times more dangerous than any bounty hunting mission I'd been on... I just hoped I could diffuse the bomb and then get out of the building... but... what about Sylvan?

"Well, this is it," Kirsten said, pointing to a sign that read '75th Floor' and a door next to it.

"Who should go first?" Asada asked.

  
"I will," I said, walking up to the door and slowly turning the knob. 

  
"I can't watch..." Asada said, tightly closing her eyes.

"Guys..." I said, trying the knob several times. "It's locked!"

"They must have locked it so a surprise SWAT team couldn't come up the stairs and try to get in," Kirsten said. "Wait, a SWAT team would bust the door down. That's what we've got to do!"

"Wait," Asada said. "They're probably waiting at this door... if they know people will come in, they've probably got it guarded really, really well."

"We can't break down the door, anyway," I said. "It opens out this way... we can't bust it in. We've just got to pick the lock."

"I can't believe it's not an electronic lock," Kirsten said. "Then you could just hack it."  


"That's okay," I said, reaching into my hair and pulling out a tiny hairpin. "Dad says to always keep one of these to pick locks. You know, padlocks, handcuffs, that sort of thing."

  
"That actually works?" Asada said skeptically.

"Of course it does," I told her, putting the hairpin into the doorknob's tiny keyhole and jimmying it around. "You just... have to find... the right... there!"

I put my hand on the doorknob and began to turn it. Sure enough, it was unlocked.

"Guys... if there's some sort of booby trap or something on this door that kills us all," Kirsten whispered, "I just want to say-"

"It's open," Asada said as I slowly creaked open the door. "No booby trap."

"No trap, no guns, no Syndicate people, no nothing," I said, walking out into the open corridor. "It's empty..."

Asada, Kirsten, and I looked around the wide, circular hallway. It greatly resembled the hall on the 16th floor, and sure enough, there wasn't a single person milling about. Had the Syndicate thug lied to Sylvan? My heart began to sink.

"I don't think this is the floor, you guys," I said dejectedly. "We messed up."

  
"No, it's got to be," Kirsten said. "The 75th floor is at the center of the structure, which is the only place you can put a bomb that will blow the whole thing up. Any higher and it will leave the bottoms of the legs alone. Any lower and you'd have to put it in one of the legs, and the tower can stand on three legs. It can stand on one leg. You'd have to put the bomb at the center, and this is the center floor, where the legs meet the rest of the building. This has got to be it!"

"So... where's the bomb, then?" Asada asked.

"Let's start looking," I said quietly. 

The three of us began to walk down the hallway, noting all of the shops and restaurants on the floor. The center of the tower was a big tourist area, just like the observation deck at the very top. As we searched, I began to think back to the time that Sylvan had taken me up to the observation deck on our date. After we kissed, I'd gone to the computer terminal and had researched the tower.

---

__

"A vital feature of our building is the central control area on the 75th floor. This is where most of the regulation consoles in the building are located. Temperature and air quality are controlled here, along with lights, power, and many other features. This room is off limits to the public."

---

"Ed knows where the bomb is!" I said. "The central control area!"

  
"That's too obvious," Kirsten said. "They'd never put it there... it's probably in a closet or a bathroom or something."

"No.... no, Ed might be onto something," Asada said. "People would think that it was so obvious... they'd never look there! So it's not obvious at all!"

"It must be there!" I said. "C'mon, let's-"

"I hear something!" shouted a voice from around the corner. The voice had a heavy French accent, and was immediately accompanied by loud footsteps. 

"Oh, crap," Kirsten whispered. "Syndicate thugs!"

"Do we run, or fight?" Asada asked.

"We run," I said, pointing toward a restroom. "If we fight, it'll cause a commotion and they might detonate the bomb!"

"Darn, I wanted to fight," Kirsten sighed. "But you've got a point, Ed... let's hurry!"

The three of us ducked into the women's restroom just as two Syndicate men approached. As Kirsten, Asada and I crouched inside a restroom stall, the men stood in the entrance and began to speak.

"You sure you heard something?" said one of them.

"Of course I did," the other one said. "I think there are people in here."

"There is no way in hell that I'm going into a women's restroom," said the first man. "It is perverted and rude."

__

"Well, at least one of them has a sense of decency," I thought.

"Oh, for Christ's sake, there's no one in here!" the second man shouted.

"But you said you thought there _were _people in here!" said the first man.

"Well, I don't think they're in here to take a piss," replied the second man. "If you are not going, I am!"

  
"Fine, but I'm waiting out here," said the first man. "Don't blame me if you get slapped."

"I'm the one with the gun, remember?" said the second man. "Jesus..."

As the man entered the restroom, my mind quickly raced to find some way to take him out.

"What are we going to do?" Asada whispered as softly as she could.

"I'm gonna shoot him," Kirsten whispered. "Wish me luck."

"Are you crazy?" I shouted, standing up. _Oops..._

"Ah-ha!" the thug shouted. He drew his gun, but before he could fire, Kirsten blasted him with the M-16, dropping him dead in a second. Then, the other thug rushed in, and Kirsten got him, too.

"Kirsten, are you out of your freaking mind?" I yelled. "Now every single Syndicate guy in the building is gonna be on us in two seconds!"

"Do you hear anyone coming?" replied Kirsten. "No. You know why? The central command room is reinforced with layers of hyperlexan, Ed. They can't hear a thing from in there."

  
"What about the other guards on patrol?" Asada asked. "And wait... how'd you know that?"  


"I've checked out the terminal at the observation deck too, duh," Kirsten said. "Now come on. If there were other Syndicate guys on this floor besides the ones guarding the bomb, they'd be in here by now."

"Okay, Kirsten, but...."

I sighed. At least we'd gotten past these two thugs... I guess I had Kirsten to thank for that. She really seemed relaxed under pressure...even moreso than I was. _She'd make a great bounty hunter..._

---

"Well, here it is," Kirsten said, pointing to a large set of wooden double-doors. "The door leading to the central command room... and hopefully the bomb."

"It's an electronic lock," Asada said calmly. "Ed... do your stuff."

"You guys really think Edward can do this?" I said, a bit surprised that they had so much confidence in me. I knew I could do it, but I didn't know that _they _knew I could.

"Of course we do," Kirsten said, handing me a pair of cables. "You almost forgot these... luckily, I picked them up at the office. They're USB cables, right?"

I nodded, and hooked up the cables to the back of the laptop I was carrying. Then, I hooked up the cables to the small slot underneath the electronic lock.

"Alright, first, I need a hacking program," I said, typing on the laptop at a blazing speed. "It should take Edward two minutes to right one... yes, two minutoes"

"Alright, Ed!" Asada half-cheered. "You can do it!"

I entered the laptop's programming mainframe and began working up a simple hacking program. Nothing too fancy, but enough to penetrate moderately simple computer systems, like the kind that were usually used to program bombs. When I was traveling on the Bebop with Spike-person and Faye-Faye, we'd only come across a few, and it only took a simple program like the one I was writing now to take them down. After finishing the program, I ran it and quickly hacked the lock, switching it to the 'open' position.

"Done done donity done done!" I said, closing the laptop and unhooking the cables. _Boy, those were the days..._

The lock clicked, and Kirsten and Asada slowly and carefully opened the double doors. Inside was a small, narrow hallway, with dim overhead lighting. As we stepped into the hallway, I began to tremble.

"Ed has a bad feeling about-"

Just then, we heard a loud burst of gunfire. As we all fell to the ground, Kirsten clutched her leg and gritted her teeth.

"Dammit, I've been hit," Kirsten growled. I looked down the hallway and saw a large group of Syndicate thugs, all of them pointing black pistols at us. Kirsten lifted her M-16 and pressed the trigger. "Eat this, bastards!"

As Kirsten fired into the crowd of thugs, most of them were hit and fell back into the room. A couple were left. I rolled toward them and swept my legs underneath theirs, sending them crashing to the ground. As one of them pointed his gun at me, I grabbed his arm and bit down hard into his flesh, causing him to scream and dropped the gun. I slid the gun to Asada, along with the laptop computer and the cables. As the other man got up and attacked me, Asada pointed the gun at the man and fired, hitting him in the leg and knocking him down next to me. As I got up and ran past the fallen Syndicate thugs into the control room, I could hear muffled yelling all around me. I looked around and saw four chairs, to which three men and one woman, apparently the workers in the room at the time, had been tied to, their lips sealed with duct tape. As some of the men whom Kirsten had shot began to get up, I kicked them until they passed out, and soon, all ten of the thugs who had been in the room had been incapacitated. When that was finished, I collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily. _That was a lot of work..._

"Ed," Asada said, walking up to me. "You'll need this..."

  
Asada handed me the laptop computer and the cables. I turned to Asada and pointed at the four bound workers.

"Untie them," I said. "They've got to know where the bomb is!"

  
"I'm surprised they weren't killed already," Kirsten said, limping into the room and clutching her injured leg. "You guys are lucky, you know that?"

As Asada pulled the tape off of the woman's mouth, the woman began to speak with a frantic tone in her voice.

  
"The bomb's hooked up to the main console, at the back of the room," the woman said. "But if you touch it, it'll go off! It's pressure sensitive!"

  
"Great, just frigging great," Kirsten said as she began to work on another worker's knots. "How's Ed supposed to hook up the computer to hack the stupid thing if she can't even touch it?"

"Wait... Ed.... hack?" said another of the workers as the tape was pulled from his lips. "One of you is Radical Edward?"

__

"How does this person know Edward?" I thought as I turned away from the control console. "Yes... I am Radical Edward!"  


"I can't believe it," the man said, getting up from the chair. By now, Asada and Kirsten had finished freeing the four workers, and had begun to tie up the thugs who were still alive, after Kirsten used some of the tape to patch the bullet wound in her leg. "_The _Radical Edward... and I thought that was just a myth."

  
"Well, believe it, buddy, the legend is here, and she's gonna save all of our asses!" Kirsten said happily. "Ed, do your stuff!"

"Wait, don't!" Asada said as I crouched down under the large, black box that I assumed was the bomb, USB cables in hand. "You'll kill us all!"

"No, Ed has the hacker's touch!" I said, very, _very _delicately plugging in the cable. Sure enough, there was no explosion. "Now to get to work!"

I knelt down in front of the laptop computer and entered the hacking program. Then, I began to type.

"Ed, are you sure you know what you're doing?" Asada asked. But that was the last thing I heard. My mind tuned out, my eyes completely focused on the computer screen. Before I knew it, I'd entered a place that I hadn't fully been in for quite some time... definitely not since entering Paris. At times, I'd completely stepped out.

---

You see, when my mother went missing, I retreated to my room. For days at a time I would lie on my bed and look up at the ceiling, lost in thought. I would daydream about my mother, day and night... and I would set off a place in my mind where I could go and be with her... in mind and spirit, if not in body. I drifted off there whenever I could, but as my memories of her faded, the space began to get cloudier and cloudier... I would begin to make things up as I went along, thoughts of my mother becoming more fantasy than reality. The day Daddy dropped me off at the convent, I couldn't take it anymore... I didn't throw a tantrum, or scream, or cry... I went to my room... well, the room I shared with about five other young students... I laid on my bed, staring up at the ceiling... but this time, I didn't think of mother... I didn't think of father... the space was empty now. I didn't know why... had the sadness, grief, and shock inundated the tiny room within my mind, flooding everything else out? Now... when I entered that room... it felt like a completely different place... it felt like... absolute ecstasy, harmony, contentment, happiness... it was, simply... the Radical Edward zone. I don't know why I chose to live here, but for years I stayed... I could still hear people, see people, feel people, react to them, but... being in the Radical Edward zone, that room in my mind, I couldn't help but feel happy... I saw things I'd never seen before... reading became incredible, so books became another retreat for me... I could read something and instantly know it, analyze a situation and instantly know of its intricacies... a godsend if you're a hacker, like I chose to be. Hacking was a joy, a way to mess with people, have fun... of course, I would always try to help people with my hacking. Never did I think it could save a huge number of lives...

And so, I had to enter the Radical Edward zone again. Fully, this time, for the first time in months. Now, more than ever, I would have to be...

---

"Ed needs to concentrate! Whoosh, zoom... I see... I see fire, walls of fire everywhere, better not hit one..."

"What's she talking about?" said Asada-person!

"Firewall," said Kirsten-person! "Shouldn't be much trouble for her..."

"Gotta find the on-off control, deactivate this sucker, whoooooooooo..... no, not here, not there, not anywhere... wait, there! Yes, yes, Edward sees all! Ed is on the ball! Whooo.... screeeeeeech! And... zoop! Once again, the day... is saved!"

---

"Bomb deactivated," came a robotic-sounding voice, an indicator that I had been successful in deactivating it. _Thank God..._

"Victory for Edward!" I said, standing up and giving a thumbs-up sign.

"You... really did it?" Asada said. "Oh, Edward!"

Before I could react, Asada dove upon me and embraced me in a crushing bear hug. I smiled and hugged her back. Then, I embraced Kirsten. The four control room workers applauded.

  
"That-a-girl!" said one of the male workers. "I don't know who you are, but whoever you are, I owe you my life!"

  
"We all owe Edward and her friends here our lives," said the female worker. "Thank you, very much..."

Now that the bomb had been deactivated, I had just one more thing to do. 

"Asada, Kirsten... take the workers and get out of here," I said, handing the laptop to Asada. "The bomb can't be activated again without this, so it's safe to leave it. I reset the tamperproof settings and everything, so no matter what anyone does, the bomb cannot be activating without this computer. In fact, you should probably destroy it."

"Wait, Ed... where are you going?" Kirsten asked.

"I have to find Sylvan," I said, taking a pistol from Asada. "I can't... I can't let him face Cecelle Frémont alone."

  
"Edward, I know how you feel about him, but..."

"Don't try to follow me, please...." I said, interrupting Asada. "I have to tell Sylvan-"

  
"That you love him?" Kirsten said.

"No... I mean, I care about him... I can't let him throw his life away! Faye-Faye told me that Spike died just like this, for a stupid vendetta! I won't let Sylvan die the same way! I can't!" 

"But.... how are we supposed to get out of here?" Asada shouted.

"The stairs," Kirsten said. "Ed's going to make it... she's gonna find Sylvan and they're both going to get out together! Right now, you and I have to tell the police and all those military guys out there that the bomb's been deactivated and that they can come into the building."

"Alright," Asada said. "Edward.... please be safe...."

I marched out of the room, determined not to let Sylvan meet his death against Frémont. The trouble was... I didn't even know where to look...

__

Sylvan, Edward won't let you die like Spike-person did... I won't let you face Frémont alone!

---

Whew, longest chapter yet! *wipes sweat off his brow and shakes his typing fingers like crazy to relieve the cramping* Only four chapters remain! The next one will be from Fremont's POV. Chapter 19 will be from Sylvan's, and the last two will be Ed's! How did Sylvan escape, anyway? Will Sylvan really fight Fremont? Can Edward help him att all? All of these questions will be answered in the last four chapters! So please review! ^_^


	18. It's Just One Of Those Days When You Don...

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me. 

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few (non-generic) French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

Reviews- 

Saberpilot: Ah, I'm glad you noticed that... yes, Ed's becoming more like Faye-Faye everyday! And Sylvan is a lot like Spike... well, Sylvan's a lot nicer, but there are similarities. Glad you're psyched for the final four chapters!

Masti Vain: Never? There's a lot of Ed ficcies around...

Afgncaap: All in one night? ^_^;;; Sorry, I dun think so... I've got Christmas presents to play with, after all. But I will get them done in the next few days, don't worry!

Ummyeah: Nah, Kirsten isn't psycho... a bit gung-ho, maybe, but not psycho! Although she did go totally Grand Theft Auto on those thugs... well anyway, thanks for reviewing!

Akemi Kimoto: You're in luck! The next update is... right now! ^_^ Enjoy!

Author's Note: **THIS CHAPTER IS IN FREMONT'S POV. Chapter 19 will be Sylvan's, and 20 and 21 will be Ed's. Thank you! ^_^**

---

"This is Cecelle Frémont, the leader of the French Syndicate, _Rose du Diable_. The Neo-Eiffel Tower is now ours, and there is a bomb planted somewhere in the building that we can detonate at any time, killing all inside. If you all cooperate, I assure you that you will all survive and be back to your homes and loved ones by the end of the day... if you all cooperate. If not, the bomb will be detonated, and we will all perish. Do everything that my Syndicate men say, however, and no harm will come to you. That is all."

I put down the PA microphone and turned to the two men standing behind me, holding machine guns in their hands. A corpse lay at their feet.

"Good work, gentlemen," I told them. "Keep this area covered."

"Boss, where will you be?" asked one of them. "Surely not down here where all the action is..."

"You're absolutely right," I said. "I'm going up the tower to ensure that order is maintained and that the Syndicate members are firmly in control. You two stay here and make sure no one gets in."

Without another word, I exited the PA room and headed down a narrow corridor to the ground floor lobby. There, the scene was utter chaos. _Excellent... _Hundreds of people were fleeing the building, prodded on by the hundreds of Syndicate men that were stationed in the lobby. As for me, I knew I should be as far away from this mess as possible. I casually walked to the elevator and stepped inside. Then, I pressed in the coordinates that would deliver me to the fifth floor. 

__

"The ballroom on the fifth floor may be the site of an uprising," I thought as the elevator swiftly carried me up to the fifth level. _"I must be there to quell any sort of insurrection..."_

---

When the elevator reached the fifth floor, I stepped outside into the hall. Several people were still running around the halls in a panicky fashion, but my Syndicate men quickly rounded them back up and escorted them back to the large, well-decorated ballroom. The twenty Syndicate men I'd assigned to this floor had done their jobs well, rounding up about thirty or forty hostages to keep inside the ballroom. As I entered, several of the men saluted me.

"Monsieur Fremont, as you have directed, this floor has been taken with little resistance," said Jatel, the man I'd assigned to lead the fifth-floor squad. He was a good, calm Syndicate officer, excellent at bringing some of the more trigger-happy men of my organization into line. He was also with me on that day when I purged Richilieu from the Syndicate, an action which I'd never regretted. I'd only been to the Neo-Eiffel Tower's ballroom once before, during a Syndicate-organized party several years back. Richilieu had been there as well....

---

__

"Cecelle, I would like you to meet my date for the evening, Miss Marishani Appledelhi."

It was only a few minutes after I'd arrived at the ball when Richilieu introduced me to her... I'd been hearing about his new woman for quite some time, but this was the first time I'd actually met her. She was a vision of beauty... beautiful red hair... but I've already spoken on that subject, so that is all I will say about that. 

"It is an honor to meet you," I said, holding back a feeling from within me. Was it jealousy? Or something else, deeper... I didn't know. I kissed Marishani on the hand, and she giggled.

"Richilieu, my dear... you never told me you had such kind friends," she said, smiling sweetly at him. She couldn't have known anything about the Syndicate... while it was a Syndicate-organized event, many "outsiders" were in attendance, so we had to conceal that fact. I knew Marishani had no idea Richilieu was in the Syndicate. It seemed like he was almost...

"Oh, all of my friends are kind, I assure you," said Richilieu. "Would you like to meet them?"

Marishani waved at me as she and Richilieu walked off toward the drink table. Now I knew... Richilieu was ashamed of his position in the Syndicate, and it was this woman's fault. We all had blood on our hands!

"Mr. Fremont... trouble outside," said a Syndicate member who had walked up behind me. "You should probably go out and see what it is. Perhaps you should bring Richilieu as well."

Having no idea what the trouble was, I knew I should probably bring Richilieu along for this one. I walked over to the drink table and called for him. He and Marishani were engaged in conversation with several Syndicate officials, and I could see that both of them were starting to get drunk.

"Richilieu, something's come up," I said. "You and I should-"

"Be there in a second," Richilieu said. 

"It can't wait," I replied. "I know you're busy with Marishani, but-"

"You're right I am, and it's going to have to wait!" Richilieu half-shouted at me. "I'm sorry."

Sighing, I exited the ballroom and made my way outside.

---

"Monsieur Fremont, I believe we've got everything covered here, although you're welcome to stay if you wish," said Jatel. Before I could reply, the cell phone in my pocket began to ring. I removed it from my pocket and switched it on.

"Fremont here, is everything alright?" I said, answering the phone.

"Trouble on the 92nd floor, sir," said the voice on the other end. "I humbly ask you to deal with the situation."

"I'll be right there," I said, hanging up the phone. I turned to Jatel again. "Excellent work. See you again later."

"Yes, sir," Jatel said as I left the ballroom and re-entered the elevator. _92nd floor... nothing up there but shops and offices... guess we must have just rubbed someone the wrong way. Well, now it's time to rub that person out._

---

__

As soon as I left the ballroom, I made my way back down to the ground level and exited the tower. A small group of Syndicate men were waiting for me.

"Monsieur Frémont, thank God you're here!" said one of them. "They're in the parking garage."

"Who is in the parking garage?" I asked. Cops? A rival Syndicate, perhaps?

"The Neo-Columbians are demanding to see the highest-ranking official in Rose du Diable, sir," he replied. "I told them about you and Richilieu, and he demanded to see-"

"What could the Neo-Columbians possibly want? This isn't about that damned bloody eye stuff again, is it? Our Syndicate doesn't deal in that sort of thing, I would think they would know that by now," I said, growing increasingly angry by the second. Richilieu was the one who dealt with rival Syndicates, I was mostly an internalist. That's how I got to where I was, anyway...

"Well, you'd better tell them that, then," said another one of my men. "They say that they have attack squads ready to strike several Rose du Diable holdings if they don't get a large shipment of bloody eye by noon tomorrow, sir..."

"Let me handle this," I said. "But I want all of you to cover me."

As I entered the parking garage, my anger was replaced with nervousness. I'd never handled something like this before, this was Richilieu's job, and yet he chose to carouse with that Appledelhi temptress... damn him!

"You are not the man we are looking for!" shouted a man with a Colombian accent as we entered the parking garage. I could already see several corpses scattered about, all of them belonging to members of Rose du Diable. "Where the hell is Tanni? He's supposed to be the leader of the French Syndicate!"

"I am Cecelle Fremont, second-in-command of the-"

"You are not second-in-command!" shouted the man, angrier than before. "The one we have dealt with before... Richilieu, HE is second-in-command of Rose Du Diable!"

I immediately began to seethe with anger. Richilieu, second-in-command of Rose Du Diable? Absolutely not, never! Serato specifically stated that I was second, Richilieu was third at best... and yet, Richilieu had been doing so many things for Serato lately... could it be? Was he actually going to be second-in-command of the Syndicate, behind MY back? 

"You listen here, I am second-in-command of Rose du Diable!" I shouted. "Richilieu is currently attending the ball, and if you wish to deal with anyone, you will deal with me."

"No!" shouted the Colombian man. "If you cannot give us what we want, then the attack will go as planned, starting with you. Kill them all!"

A hail of gunfire sounded as the group of Neo-Columbian Cartel members began to fire. As I rolled behind a car to escape the gunfire, I was hit in my left arm... fortunately, I wielded my Crescando in my right. I drew my crescent-shaped blade and watched as my men were decimated by the Columbians. By the time my men were all dead, there were still about eight or nine Cartel members left... I knew what I had to do.

---

I killed them all with my Crescando, but I was severely wounded... it would take me nearly a month to recover. But when I did, I swore revenge on Richilieu... in the month I'd been recovering, he'd grown greatly in favor with Serato... leading to the events of that fateful night when I disposed of them both... Richilieu and Marishani...

"Sir, a man on this floor is demanding to see his girlfriend," said one of my Syndicate men as I stepped out of the 92nd floor elevator.

"What are you talking about?" I replied.

"Go see for yourself, sir... he's holed up in one of the offices and killed all of our men on this floor. He's armed to the teeth..."

"Dammit, I shouldn't have to deal with this, you braindead fool," I said to the man, scolding him. I was in no shape or mood to deal with a lovestruck lunatic... and I wasn't about to detonate the bomb in the tower, either. Not for one person. Still, this man could do quite a bit of damage, and I couldn't let him push around the members of _Rose du Diable. To protect my sacred honor, I must act._

"Sir, I apologize, but-"

"Where is he?" I asked.

"Third door on the right, down the hall," said the Syndicate member. "I'll tell him you're coming."

I walked with the man down the hall until we arrived at the office where the lunatic had holed himself up. My Syndicate man entered the room.

"Where is she?" shouted a voice from inside, apparently belonging to the lunatic.

"Sir, I've brought the leader of the Syndicate here, but you'll have to put down all your weapons before I'll let you talk to him," said my Syndicate man. "I assure you that he will be unarmed as well."

__

"I'm not putting Crescando down," I thought to myself.

"Fine, but get out of the doorway first!" shouted the lunatic. As my man stepped away, I stepped into the office. There, standing in front of a desk, was a young man with short, fiery red hair. He had several guns on the desk behind him, and he wore an angry scowl on his face. "Tell me where she is!"

"I don't know," I said. "But if you tell me precisely what happened, I can help you."

"My girlfriend... her name is Anna, by the way, works at a gift shop on this floor. Me and her were in there, talking and minding our own business, when your gang of goons comes in and takes everybody hostage! One of them dragged Anna out of the room. After I busted up the rest of your dumbass thugs, I killed the ones outside and looked around all the rooms, but I couldn't find her. Where the hell did your sick men take my Anna?"

"Calm down," I said, knowing immediately why one of my men had taken this lunatic's lover. "I specifically ordered my men to take hostages, but not to rape them, which is precisely what one of my foolish men is probably doing to your pathetic little girlfriend right now."

Seeing the opportunity to have a little bit of fun and easily take out an uncooperative hostage while I was at it, I turned to my Syndicate man, who was standing behind me in the doorway. 

"Search every single room on this floor for this... Anna person, and when you find her, bring her back here," I ordered. "Go!"

The Syndicate man ran off down the hallway, and I turned back to the lunatic.

  
"Young man, I didn't catch your name... I'm just curious, what is-"

"Terran," the young man said. "And that won't work. I searched EVERY room on this floor!"

"Even the locked ones?" I asked.

"No... oh geez, I'm an idiot!" Terran shouted.

  
"Oh, yes you are," I said, drawing my Crescando. "This is for all of my men you've killed today."

  
With a flick of my wrist, I hurled the crescent blade at Terran, slicing him across the knees and dropping him to the ground in an instant with a shriek of pain.

  
"Why... you... you bastard..." Terran groaned weakly. I smiled and carried Terran over to the farside wall, pinning him there with my Crescent blade in the same manner in which I'd pinned Edward, forcing him to stand.

"If you move, my blade will slit your throat in a second," I said. "You'd better not be weak in the knees."

Forcing this fool to stand with critically injured knees was quite fun... I could only hope he'd stay alive long enough for Anna to see. Sure enough, a few moments later, two of my Syndicate men walked in, carrying a badly-beaten blonde-haired girl with them.

"This is her," said the one that had greeted me at the elevator.

"What didja need her for, boss?" asked the second man. I picked up a gun from the desk and pointed it at the second man's head.

"The world will be a lot better without you, you perverted bastard," I said, pulling the trigger. "Perhaps in the next life, you'll learn to follow orders."

The blonde-haired girl screamed upon seeing the sight of her lover Terran, struggling to stand so that my blade wouldn't cut his throat.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM?" she screamed.

"Anna!" shouted Terran. "Are you ok-"

And at last, his injured knees failed him. As he fell, the blade slashed cleanly through his neck, dropping his body to the floor. His head fell separately, surprising me quite a bit. The angle of my blade had cut him cleanly through.

"TERRAN!" shouted Anna, the blonde-haired girl. As she broke free from the one Syndicate man left holding her, I pointed my gun and shot her straight through the forehead, dropping her to the ground in an instant.

"That's the end of that," I said, walking over to the wall and pulling out my Crescando. As I returned it to its sheathe, I smirked... _where have I seen this before?_

"Excellent job, sir," said my Syndicate man. "Rest assured that I will always follow your orders, Monsieur Fremont."

"See that you do," I told him. "Start by cleaning up this room. Then, you can join the group covering the lobby."

"What will you do, sir?" the Syndicate man asked me.

"I will be heading up to the observation deck," I said. "I want to observe some of the happenings out in the streets. It must be quite chaotic down there by now."

"Yes sir," replied my Syndicate man. "Should I notify some of the others of your whereabouts?"

"Just a few of the leaders, in case I need to be contacted directly," I said. "Long live the Syndicate."

"Long live Cecelle Fremont," he said as I left the room. "Long live _Rose du Diable_."

__

Music to my ears...

---

As the elevator carried me up to the observation deck, nearly a mile in the air, I smiled. In just a few hours, the Neo-Eiffel Tower will belong to the French Syndicate. The problems in retaining the tower and protecting it from attacks had already been worked out. Military installations secretly placed within the tower would assure that, as long as we controlled the Central Control room. We could keep hostages as long as it was necessary... weeks, months, perhaps even years. I stepped out of the elevator and walked down the corridor, toward the door that led to the observation deck. I hadn't felt this good, this victorious in a long time. The death of Serato Tanni was truly an accident, just a stroke of luck that assured I wouldn't have to kill him myself to take control of the Syndicate... thank goodness cars weren't a flawlessly safe mode of travel after all these years of improvements. No, the truest sense of accomplishment was long ago... not since I'd destroyed Richilieu and his lover. _That was pure victory._

---

__

"Why have you arranged this meeting here, Cecelle?" asked Richilieu as he stepped inside the large, dimly-lit storeroom of the warehouse. We were the only ones in the huge room... for now, at least.

"This meeting is about progress, my dear friend," I said, artfully dodging the point of the conversation in order to mess with Richilieu's mind. Just for fun, of course. "Rose du Diable needs progress."

"What exactly do you mean?" Richilieu asked.

"About six weeks ago, a deadly attack by the Neo-Colombian Cartel left me nearly dead, and many of our Syndicate outposts destroyed," I said. "Do you remember that?"

"Well, of course I do," Richilieu said. "I killed the Cartel leader myself, remember? I couldn't have let those bastards get away with what they did to you..."

"I couldn't either," I said. "I just wish I could have helped see to the end of their illustrious organization."

"You know that our response operations couldn't wait," Richilieu said. I could see a puzzled look cross his face, and the time to reveal my little secret neared. "But we already talked about that, didn't we? What's this really about, Cecelle? You're not... mad, are you?"

"Well, a little," I admitted. 

"You know that the Syndicate cannot let vengeance stand in the way of progress... we had to strike, for the good of Rose du Diable, please understand."

"Sometimes, vengeance can be a perfect jump-start for progress," I said. "Good leaders always mean progress."

"I'm completely lost here, Cecelle," Richilieu said. "Are you... feeling okay?"

"Oh, I'm feeling wonderful, Richilieu," I said. "I feel like I've just slept with a beautiful starlet from heaven. Oh, sure, someone else I deeply care for is being shot full of holes as we speak, but I'm on cloud nine. Now do you see what this is about?"

Richilieu gasped.

"Cecelle, if this is this about Marishani-"

"Bring her in."

---

I pushed open the observation deck door. There, standing in the center of the room, was a face I knew all too well. I screamed... was it real? Was this specter real? It couldn't possibly be-

"Richilieu!"

  
"Sylvan."

---

Showdown time is next! So, have you figured it out? I bet Ondraya Onion has, hee... only three more chapters to go, folks! Review now now diddy-mao, okay?


	19. Hard To See Clear, Is It Me, Is It Fear?

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me. 

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few (non-generic) French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

Author's Note: **THIS CHAPTER IS IN SYLVAN'S POV! ^_^ Chapters 20 and 21 will be in Edward's POV.**

---

As Ed dashed out of her chair and fled out of the restaurant, she hit the deck and rolled away as bullets flew at her from all directions. I held my breath, praying that Ed would somehow make it out of the restaurant intact. After a few seconds, I could no longer watch, and I hung my head, closing my eyes.

"Edward, what are you doing?" I said to myself  
  
"Sylvan, she made it, look!" Kirsten whispered. 

I looked up to see Edward, just as she got up off of the ground and escaped down the hall. Two of the other thugs in the restaurant dashed out after her, leaving eight inside to deal with us. _Ed, I hope you know what you're doing..._

"That's it!" shouted one of the remaining eight thugs. "There ain't gonna be no more escapes!"

I could see that most of the hostages were already taped into chairs. Two of the thugs walked over to Kirsten and I and began taping us down as well. 

__

"I should probably try to escape like Ed did... I have to help her, somehow!" 

But it was too late. My arms and legs were firmly taped to the chair before I could mount any sort of escape attempt. Kirsten was bound in a similar fashion.

"Don't worry, Sylvan," Kirsten whispered. "I've got a plan...."

"Quiet down, youse two!" shouted one of the thugs. He tore off a couple of strips from the roll of tape he was holding and used them to gag Kirsten and I. She let out a muffled squeal of protest from behind the tape as the thug walked away from us. Then, she looked over at me.

__

"Kirsten, I really don't think you've got a plan, do you?" I thought. As she looked at me, she winked her left eye, and then gestured with her head toward the back of her chair. Since my chair was right next to hers, I could clearly see her hands, bound behind the back of the chair. There, concealed in her right palm, was a small nail file with a sharp-looking edge. _"That's not going to cut through duct tape..."_

But again, Kirsten proved me wrong, as she rapidly began to cut away at the tape with the nail file, as covertly as possible. Looking around, I could see that most of the thugs were standing near the entrance, in fact, all but one of them was. The other one was busy taping the last person into their chair. After he was done, he walked over to two of his buddies and began to talk with them. 

"Hey," he said quietly, and I could barely make out his voice as he talked, "this is an arcade, right? What good is taking hostages in an arcade if you can't play the video games?"

"Yeah, I'm about to die, I'm so freaking bored," said one of the thugs he was conversing with. "But what about the boss?"  


"The boss isn't here," said the first thug.   


"I meant the boss of _this _operation," said the second thug, pointing to a tall, bald man with a patch over his right eye. "Monsieur Zed. He won't like it."

"I'll ask him," said the one thug in the group of three who hadn't spoken yet. He walked over to 'Monsieur Zed' and began talking with him, but I couldn't clearly make out what they were saying, since Zed talked rather quietly. As I strained to hear what they were saying, I heard a squeak from the chair next to me. I turned my head and saw Kirsten, gesturing toward the back of her chair again. I looked down, and sure enough, Kirsten's hands were free, the nail file still in her right hand. I was quite happy that Kirsten had managed to free herself, but I still wondered how we were going to take on the eight thugs, since all the rest of us were still tied to our chairs, and unarmed. I hadn't brought my gun, since I naturally thought I wouldn't need it... that our troubles were over... boy, was I wrong. 

Suddenly, Kirsten flipped the nail file over to my hands, still bound behind my chair. _Now how am I supposed to catch it if I can't even move my- _But sure enough, I was able to catch the tiny file. Kirsten's aim had been dead on. I nodded to her and began to work on my own hands, as the voices from the front of the restaurant got louder.

"You wanna play what? _Video games?_" said one of the thugs, apparently Zed, in a thick French accent. "This is supposed to be a serious operation here, and you want to play video games?"  


"It was their idea, I swear!"

"I've got a video game for ya! Eat Lead 5000!"

  
"Wait, wait, wait!" shouted a voice I hadn't heard before. "Guys, we shouldn't fight... what would Monsieur Fremont think?"

"Hey, if they keep fighting, we just might stand a chance!" I thought as I finally got my hands free. _"Alright!"_

I turned my head back toward Kirsten and nodded toward her again. Even though the piece of tape was still over her mouth, I knew from the widening of her eyes that she was smiling. 

"I'll tell you what Monsieur Fremont would think!" Zed shouted. "If he knew that there were fools like these in the French Syndicate who spent their time lollygagging and playing Nintendo, he would-"

"Hey, guys!" Kirsten shouted, ripping the tape from her lips. Zed gasped and stormed over to her.

"How in the hell did you get the tape off of your-"

But that was all he could manage to say before Kirsten launched a hard, high kick at his head, striking Zed in the jaw. As he fell to the ground, stunned, Kirsten grabbed the M-16 from his waist, pointed it at the seven stunned thugs, and began firing at them. Five were hit and went down immediately, while the other two fumbled for their guns. Seeing my chance, I quickly untied my own legs, although probably not as quickly as Kirsten must have done earlier (I didn't even see her do it!). Kirsten turned toward me and began shouting orders.

  
"Start freeing the hostages, alright?" Kirsten said quickly. "Hurry, you have to get them out of the line of fire before the rest of Fremont's men start firing back!"  


I nodded and began dashing around the room, freeing as many people as I could. The people that I freed in turn began freeing the others. Meanwhile, the two thugs that were still standing had finally gotten a good grip on their guns. They returned fire at Kirsten, who had to quickly duck behind one of the arcade games to get out of the way.

__

"I've gotta help her out," I thought. Seeing that most of the hostages were freed, I rolled over to one of the fallen thugs and grabbed a pistol from him, then began firing at the two remaining thugs. I hit one of them in the hand, causing them to drop their gun and fall to the ground. The other one turned toward me and fired, the bullet grazing my cheek. As I felt the bullet, a wave of shock swept over me, and I had to shake my head for a moment. _"Oh man... I almost got killed..."_

"Dammit, my gun jammed!" I could hear Kirsten yell from a few feet away. "That's not good..."

More shots. The last thug had begun shooting at me again. As I dove to get out of the line of fire, I hit the ground hard and dropped my gun. It skidded across the floor and under one of the arcade games, where I knew it would be impossible for me to retrieve. I scrambled to grab another gun, but in my frantic state of urgency, it became extremely hard for me to focus. I was on my knees, looking everywhere on the ground, but in all the bodies and commotion, it seemed impossible to discern shapes and colors. _Oh no... I'm gonna die..._

"Sylvan, I'm coming!" Kirsten shouted. But as she ran toward me, Zed came up from behind her and got her in a headlock, causing her to choke out a loud scream.

"So, think you can get the best of me, girlie?" Zed said, a huge smile on his face. "Well, think again!"

And as I gasped at Kirsten's plight, I could see the other remaining thug out of the corner of my eye, pointing his gun at me. It was the same one who'd asked if he could play video games, the one that Zed had yelled at earlier. 

"I guess you're not so bad after all," Zed said, still holding Kirsten. "Shoot him! Finish him off!"

As the thug aimed at my head, I could only watch in horror. _Not like this... not like this... _But then, a miracle happened. Before the thug could fire, a huge man leapt upon him, completely out of the blue. I recognized him as the first hostage I'd freed... all of the others had run away in terror to avoid the firefight, and this last soul had remained... as the thug hit the ground, he was knocked out instantly, and the pistol flew from his hands. I picked it up and pointed it at Zed, but he held Kirsten in the way as a shield, and I couldn't get a clean shot.

"Girlie's coming with me," Zed said, smiling. "I wonder how good your aim is, boy?"  


"Shoot him!" Kirsten managed to choke out. "Shoot his ass!"

"I can't!" I shouted, desperately not wanting to risk hitting a friend. "I don't want to hit you!"

"Do it!" Kirsten yelled. "I'll... be fine..."

Zed began to back out of the restaurant, and the big man who'd saved me earlier took a step back as Zed backed up toward the entrance. My muscles tensed. _Could I really fire? No... I can't risk hitting Kirsten! I can't-_

But I didn't get the chance. As my finger tightened around the trigger, a short, blonde-haired woman ran up behind Zed and smashed him on the head with the butt of one of the dropped guns, giving Kirsten a chance to squeeze out of Zed's grip and run back over toward me. Then, the big man ran at Zed and tackled him hard to the ground, holding him in place.

"Alright, we did it!" Kirsten shouted triumphantly. "We beat 'em!"

I couldn't believe it. We'd... we'd actually won? _Wow, guess Ed's not the only one in the Dramatic Escape Club now..._

"So, what do we do about him?" asked the big man, pointing at Zed.

  
"Let's ask him a few questions," Kirsten suggested. "I heard over the PA announcement that Fremont planted a bomb in the tower."

"Geez, I didn't even pay attention to that," I admitted, being too worried about Ed to hear the announcement when it was called out. "So... we ask Zed where the bomb is?"  


"I'll never tell!" Zed shouted, struggling as the big man and the blonde woman dragged him over to a chair and began taping him down. "I'll never tell you where the bomb is!"

"Oh, really?" Kirsten said, a devious smile beginning to appear on her face. "Well then, I guess we'll just have to-"

Still holding the pistol I'd picked up, I walked over to the chair and pointed the gun at Zed's... well, you know where I pointed it. 

"You either tell us where that bomb is, or you can kiss your privates goodbye," I said. Not that I'd actually pull the trigger... I could never do that to another man, not even Fremont... the thought of it made me wince as I held the gun.

"Geez, Sylvan, you're vicious," Kirsten said, giggling. "You know, that would've been my idea too."

"Okay, okay!" Zed shouted, and I breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that simply the thought of having his privates blown off saved me from actually having to consider doing it. "The bomb is in the core of the tower, central control room, on the 75th floor! I swear it is! Please, don't fire the gun!"

"Think he's telling the truth?" Kirsten said slyly. The central control room? Seemed too obvious... and yet, it seemed like the perfect place to put a bomb. I knew immediately that Zed was telling the truth. At least, I was pretty sure. 

"Alright," I said, slowly putting the gun away. "That's good enough."

  
"Now that that's over with," said the big man, "What do we do with this guy?"

"Lock up him and the others up in the bathroom or something," Kirsten said. "How many did we leave alive, again?"

"Out of the ones you shot, only one lived," said the blonde woman, checking the pulses of the thugs to see which ones were alive. "And I think the other one is going to die too, so... three left."

"Put them in the closet then?" asked the big man. "Alrighty."

"Thank you two so much," said the blonde woman as she began to carry one of the still-alive yet unconscious thugs toward the bathrooms. "You saved our lives..."

The big man nodded, carrying the chair that Zed was taped to out of the restaurant.

"You kids did real good," said the man. "You take care now, you hear? I just hope we'll be able to get out of here alive..."

"I'm sure we will be," Kirsten said. "Bye..."

After the couple returned once more to carry the last thug into the bathroom, Kirsten and I were alone in the restaurant, surveying the damage. We sat down at one of the tables and began to talk.

"Kirsten, how did you... how did you do that?" I asked. Kirsten had just killed five of Fremont's thugs, and yet she still seemed as calm as she usually was... I mean, she was a bit shaken up, but not so much that you could actually tell she was unless you were looking really closely, like me.

"Do what?" she replied.

  
"Stay so calm and collected like that," I said. "I mean, you picked up that gun and just shot all of those guys, without even stopping to think, Kirsten..."

"I've... never actually killed anyone before," Kirsten said, a frown appearing on her face. "I know I probably should feel more than I'm feeling... I do regret having to kill them though, you know that, I mean, if I would have had the luxury of aiming somewhere else, like their legs, or their hands, to incapacitate them but not to kill them, then I would've done that, but..."

"I understand, Kirsten," I said. "It's okay..."

"I guess the reason I'm so calm is because my dad was a cop," Kirsten said. "He always taught me to be calm in tough situations... he said that learning to stay calm helped him in so many other areas of life, not just in being a cop... I mean, for him, shooting people's a part of the job, you know? But I guess I wasn't exactly calm today, was I?"

Kirsten sighed and began to frown sadly. 

"And then he died, about three years back. Some armed robbery or something, I dunno... there was a shootout, and... well, at any rate, when we found out, they told my mom and me that he died helping two other officers get out of the line of fire, so... I guess it helped calm me down a little bit, but... I was still pretty mad after that. That's why I fly off the handle sometimes... like with Stephanie a while ago."

"Stephanie?" I asked, forgetting who exactly she was. "Who is that again?"  


"Oh yeah, you've never seen her, have you?" Kirsten asked. "Remember, the girl who led the attacks on all the incoming students' dorms back at the college? I guess I thought I was talking to Edward there for a minute..."

"Are we really that much alike? I mean, yikes, you really thought I was Ed?"

"Well, you're both really nice," Kirsten said, smiling again. "Hey, you know, I think you guys really do belong together... you make an absolutely sweet couple, and I've heard so many wonderful things about you from her! If Ed wasn't around I'd probably take ya for myself..."

Oh geez.... I'd forgotten all about Edward! Where could she possibly be? She didn't return to the restaurant... maybe she was... no, no, it couldn't be! Ed was so strong, nothing bad could happen to her... she was probably out of the tower right now. And yet, bad things did happen to her... like when she was kidnapped by Cecelle Fremont... I was more scared than I'd ever been in my life when I saw her, trembling in fear as he posed her for the camera of the videophone... Cecelle Fremont was pure evil. Chillingly pure evil... he killed my father, I know he did, and he almost killed Edward... and now he was going to be responsible for hurting all of the people in the Neo-Eiffel Tower... if not physically, then mentally, some probably scarred for life. I couldn't let it continue... and it was at that moment that I knew I had to stop Cecelle Fremont for good. Now and forever.

"Yoo-hoo, Sylvie-poo?" Kirsten said, waving her hand in front of my face. "Ya listening? You kinda just stared out into space for a few-"

"Kirsten," I said, taking a clip from the ground and loading the pistol in my hand, then taking a few more clips and putting them in my pocket. "I'm going to deal with Fremont, once and for all. You should probably try to get out of the tower, or find Ed."

"Sylvan, are you crazy?" Kirsten stammered, exactly what I expected her to say. "You don't even know where he is!"

"I'm going, Kirsten," I said, starting to walk out of the restaurant. Before I did, I turned to her one last time. "Thank you... for everything. You saved my life, Kirsten."

  
"And you saved mine," Kirsten said. "I'm going to stay right here."

"Why?" I asked.

"Ed will come back," Kirsten said. "I know she will. And she'll be looking for you."

"You should leave, Kirsten," I yelled, nearing the elevator with my back to the restaurant. "But it's your choice if you want to stay."

  
"Ed loves you!" Kirsten shouted. "I know she'll be back!"

As I got into the elevator, I stopped for a split-second. 

__

"What if... Ed does come back? Should I wait for her? No. I can't let her get involved in this. This is my fight now."

I entered the Observation Deck in as my destination. Somehow, I knew that Cecelle Fremont, in the evil depths of his soul, would want to see the damage he's caused from some sort of vantage point high above the chaos below. I stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hallway toward the observation deck. Then, I pushed open the doors and saw... nothing. No one. The kiosks were empty and unattended to, and there was not a soul standing by the windows. But when I looked outside, it was chaos. Helicopters circled the building. Cars were barricaded in the streets so that police and military personnel could get in closer to the tower. _This is huge... _

I knew that the hyperlexan windows would stop any bullets from penetrating the walls of the observation deck, so they couldn't fire on Fremont if they wanted to. This was the perfect place to simply watch as your own personal chaos unfolded. What a sick, sick bastard Cecelle Fremont was... creating all this carnage, this ruin, this terror, for so many innocent people... that's why I knew that I had to put an end to it. Now. I stood in front of the large double doors and waited. My gun was clutched in my right hand, but I didn't point it at the door. I wanted Fremont to die at my hand, but not before knowing that what he did was wrong... this was about teaching him a lesson. _You can't mess with innocent lives and get away with it, Fremont... no one can._

Then, the door began to open. My muscles tensed yet again. There was no way this could be him, could it? It was probably a tourist, fleeing for his life, or one of Fremont's men, checking for anyone who might be hiding up here. No... it was him. I could tell as soon as I saw his face, nearly as pale as a sheet. His long black hair also gave him away, as did his long, black trenchcoat. I should have been the one paralyzed when I saw him, but instead, it was him... terrified to see me. _What's going on here?"_

"Richilieu?" he stammered out. _My father? He thought I was his father?_

"Sylvan," I replied, as calmly as I could. "Cecelle Fremont, your angel of death awaits."

Wait, did that just come out of my mouth? _Boy, was THAT ever stupid... _

A smile appeared on Fremont's face. Then, he began to laugh.

"Oh, it's just you, Sylvan," Fremont said, chuckling. "For a while there, I thought it was actually someone important! So, I guess you've finally come for Edward, huh? Well, too late. She already escaped. Looking back on it, I probably should have just killed her while I had the chance."

"Shut up!" I shouted, anger quickly beginning to overwhelm me. "You sick bastard, I swear, you'll never lay another hand on Edward again!"

"So, this is about Edward, is it?" Fremont said devilishly. "Well, well, well, love _is _a many-splendored thing after all."

"This isn't about her!" I shouted, which was only mostly the truth, since Edward was one of the reasons I was angry with Fremont. "I'm going to stop you from hurting anyone, ever again, you hear me? You've been toying with innocent people's lives far too long, and it ends right now!"

"Oh, Sylvan, you're such a crusader," said Fremont, reaching inside his coat, immediately letting me know that he was going to draw his crescent blade. "You're quite a chip off the old block, if I do say so myself. Your father was a man of morals as well, although not nearly as many as yours. You see, it's hard to stay moralistic in a job like he had."

"My father was a talented and ethical stockbroker, you damned liar!" I shouted, now even more enraged. _How dare he talk about my father, when he didn't even know him, and hadn't even met him until the day he took my father's life!_

"Is _that _what he told you?" Fremont said, and again, I didn't have a clue what he was talking about. "Darn, now I'll have to make your death torturously slow until you've gotten the whole story. And I was just going to do this."

With a sweeping hand motion, Fremont hurled his blade at me. Quickly, I drew my gun and held it out in front of me like a shield, sparks flying as Fremont's blade slammed into it and ricocheted back into Fremont's gloved hand.

"My goodness, that's impressive," Fremont said, smirking. "You know, your father would be proud of-"

"Stop talking about my father!" I yelled, pointing my gun at Fremont's face and firing several shots. He ran to the left, swerving around them all, and slashed his blade across my face with incredible vigor, then punched me hard in the mouth before I could react to the slash, sending me crashing to the ground.

"Of course, he had a lot better reaction time than you just did," Fremont said. I ignored him and put my hand to my face, the metallic taste of blood beginning to appear in my mouth. Fremont's blade had cut me just below my left eye, and I could feel the blood start to drip down into the other cut on my cheek made by my close encounter with a thug's bullet. I didn't know how badly my mouth was bleeding, but I knew that one of my teeth had been knocked loose by Fremont's intense punch. _Not good..._

"Go to hell," I said, spitting out blood so that I could speak clearly. I pointed my gun at Fremont again and started to fire, quickly running out of bullets in my clip as he fell to the ground and swept my legs out from under me, sending me sprawling to the ground again.

"I'd be glad too... maybe I'll see your father there!" Fremont shouted, kicking me hard in the ribs. I rolled across the ground and into an information kiosk, leaning up against it in order to get back on my feet. As I did, Fremont threw a punch at me. This time, I dodged the punch, and Fremont had to stop in mid-punch to avoid punching right through a computer screen. Now was my chance. I swung the pistol and slammed the metallic end straight into Fremont's face, hitting him in the nose and mouth. His hands flew to his face, and he stumbled back, screaming curses muffled by his hands as I took the opportunity to reload my pistol.

"The only people you'll see there are your henchmen, you asshole," I said. 

I tried to point the barrel of my gun at Fremont's forehead, but he parried with his blade, using it to keep my gun away from his face. I tried as best I could to push back with my gun, and my strength matched his as we jostled for position, each of us frantically trying to push our weapons toward the other person. Suddenly, he pushed too hard, and our weapons went flying out of our hands, his blade skidding toward me and my gun skidding toward his. As we stood there, looking at the weapons, he suddenly picked up the gun and began to fire, hitting me in the shoulder as I rolled away in stunned surprise.

__

"Well, if he's going to use my weapon, I'm going to use his!" I thought, rolling back toward the blade and picking it up, hurling it at Fremont with all my might. It clipped him in the side, ripping through his trenchcoat and causing him to scream out in pain, dropping my gun. I kicked his blade across the room and picked up my gun, pointing it at his head as I rolled past. _"This is it... the perfect shot, right at his head!"_

But as I pulled the trigger, I gasped in horror as I heard a loud, clicking noise. _No! Dammit!_

And then, the pain came. Searing through my shoulder, the bullet wound finally made its presence known. I cried out and clutched my shoulder, falling to my knees, unable to reload my gun. Fremont scrambled to his blade and picked it up, hurling it at me. It caught me in the ankle, causing me to cry out again as Fremont's blade soared back over to him. He grasped the blade in his hand and walked over to me, laughing triumphantly.

"So, little Sylvan," Fremont said, preparing to strike me down with his blade. "Now do you want to know the man your father was?"

Gritting my teeth and fighting back the pain, I reloaded my gun, unseen by Cecelle Fremont, whose confidence and cockiness was currently clouding his vision. As he lifted his blade to strike me down, I pointed my gun up at his head and fired.

"ARGH!"

I hadn't hit him in the head... I had simply been shaking far too much to get an accurate shot. Instead, I hit him in the center of his right hand, which incredibly, still gripped around the crescent blade. He switched the blade to his left hand, but the pain in his right was evidently very severe, as he stumbled back and growled at me.

"You.... little... do you know... how much... this hurts?" he said in between gasping breaths. As I lifted my gun to fire again, my aching shoulder seared in pain, and I had to lower my arm and pick myself up off the ground, stumbling away from Fremont.

"That's about a billionth of the pain caused by losing a father," I said. "Now I only have to shoot you a billion times more."

But before I could say anything else, the door swung open. We both turned our heads to look. It was... her! _Edward, what are you doing all the way up-_

"Sylvan, please stop!"

"Edward!"

---

Yes, before you say anything, Sylvan's 'angel of death' line was shamelessly ripped off from Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. Man, that movie is so cool... (DISCLAIMER: That line is owned by whoever makes Batman, not me. ^_^) I only got one review last time... (thanks, Saberpilot! *hugs*) I need more this time, okay, readers?


	20. Making All Of The Pain You Feel Seem Far...

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me. 

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few (non-generic) French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

Author's Note: Back to Ed's POV for this and the final chapter! ^_^

---

I ran down the corridors as fast as my limber legs could carry me, past the empty rooms, the deserted halls, and finally, into the 75th floor elevator. As my eyes scanned up and down the rows of buttons, I found myself sliding back against the back wall of the elevator, completely in the dark about what to do next. 

__

"Maybe Ed should push ALL the buttons," I thought. _"No, that wouldn't do any good... think, Ed, think! Where would Sylvan go in order to fight mean old Cecelle Fremont? Think about where Spike-person and Vicious fought..."_

---

__

"Faye-Faye, no! No, Spike-person is not dead! He can't be!"

"Ed, he... I couldn't believe it either, but... they found his body right outside the Syndicate building... they rushed him to the hospital, but he was dead on arrival..." 

Faye-Faye knew I was about to cry, she could see it in my eyes... she'd never seen me cry before, but she knew exactly what to do, like a mother would... she walked over to me and gently wrapped her arms around my chest... from her staggered breaths, I knew she was about to cry as well, so I wrapped my arms around her and tried to comfort her as best as I could... we had to comfort each other that day.

"Faye-Faye, what... exactly happened to Spike-person?" I asked. Spike-person was so strong... I thought he was invincible, I honestly did... I was so naive then...

"He went to the Syndicate building and... slaughtered everyone there, fighting his way to where Vicious was... that's what one of the survivors said in the police report. Evidently, the police found Vicious' body on the top floor, which is apparently where they must have fought, so... he must have made it, fighting through legions of Syndicate men all the way up..."

Then, Faye-Faye stopped hugging me. She stepped away and, for one second, her face turned extremely serious... but then she couldn't hold it in anymore. She collapsed to the ground and began sobbing, her head in her hands.

"I tried to stop him! I tried so hard, but he just... he just ignored me, and went off to die! I told him he was going to die, but... he already knew... he was never alive, not a day I knew him... but he was real... he was so real..."

"Oh, Faye-Faye," I said, only a few tears running down my face. I couldn't possibly comprehend what Faye-Faye must have gone through... I left the Bebop, I had no chance to stop him, but I thought that when I left I'd see Spike-person again... "Faye-Faye, you couldn't have stopped him... there was nothing that could have... no stopping..."

"I think I might have even... loved him, Edward. I don't know for sure, and now I never will... was he just a comrade, a friend... he felt like something more, but now I'll never know because I couldn't save him! Oh, Ed, you'll never understand..."

"Faye-Faye?"

"But thanks for trying... I know I'll be better soon..."

---

Faye-Faye did recover from Spike-person's death... she told me that she'd tried to commit suicide a few hours after Spike left, but Jet stopped her... but one thing that Faye had said stuck with me. _Faye-Faye said she might have loved Spike... does Ed feel the same way about Sylvan?_

Gathering all of my strength, I rose to my feet. 

"_I'm not sure how I feel about Sylvan, I might love him or I might not, but there's only one way to know for sure, and that's to find Sylvan and Fremont!_ Observation deck, here comes Edward!"

Spike and Vicious had their battle on the top floor of the Syndicate building... somehow, some way, I knew that Sylvan and Fremont's battle had to be at the top of the Neo-Eiffel Tower... the observation deck... where Sylvan first told me he loved me, on our date that seemed so long ago..._ Sylvan, please be okay!  
_

The elevator door opened, and I found myself on the narrow hallway leading toward the observation deck door. I didn't know what I would find, except that I knew I had to get there as quickly as I could. I walked down the hallway and put my fingers around the doorknob. Then, without hesitation, I turned the knob and pushed my way into the room. 

__

So I wasn't too late! There, standing toward the back of the large room, were Sylvan and Fremont, facing each other down. As they noticed me, both of them turned in my direction, and I could see the beating that both of them had already taken. My heart began to twist as I saw the extent of some of Sylvan's injuries, as he had a large amount of blood dripping from several cuts on his face, and a particularly nasty-looking bullet wound on his shoulder. Fremont had been a little banged up, but not quite as badly as Sylvan was, although his right hand had been injured substantially.

"Sylvan, please stop!" I yelled, wanting this all to end.

"Edward!" Sylvan called back at me. "Ed, what are you doing here?"

"I couldn't let you get hurt, Sylvan! Please, listen to Edward! Ed's friend was in a fight just like this four years ago, and-"

"You mean Spike Spiegel and Franz Vicious, of Neo-Germany's Red Dragon Syndicate? Well, former Syndicate, anyway, it collapsed after the deaths of those two... quite a bit of a scandal, that one was," Fremont mused casually. "I remember being quite pleased at the deaths of those two, especially Vicious... he was quite dangerous, and planning an assimilation of many Neo-European syndicates, including my own."

"You know about Spike-person?" I said. _"How could anyone be happy about the death of Spike-person?"_

"Turns out, Spike's current career was that of a bounty hunter, a ruthless space cowboy hunting people down to make a living," Fremont said. "He was a nobody. Sort of like you, Ed. You _were _traveling with him, correct?"

"Spike-person wasn't a nobody!" I shouted indignantly, marching toward Cecelle Fremont. "You take that back right now!"

I clenched my fists. Sylvan had done enough fighting... I wanted to finish off Fremont. But then, Sylvan waved me back.

  
"Ed, please... I don't want you involved in this!" Sylvan pleaded. "You have to understand, this is my fight... I mean, I know what Fremont's done to you, but... he's killed my father, too!"

"And my mother," I said. "Sylvan, let me take care of this..."

Did I really want to fight Cecelle Fremont? Now I knew exactly why Sylvan wanted to fight him... someone this evil _had _to be stopped... maybe Sylvan was right... Sylvan started the fight, and I should let him finish it... but I couldn't let Sylvan get hurt! Not like Spike did! _Oh, what is Edward supposed to do?_

"You know, Sylvan... and Francoise... I've never told you the whole truth about the death of your father and mother respectively... I tried to tell Sylvan, but he seems to think I'm a liar," Fremont said. 

  
"What does he mean, Sylvan?" I asked, confused. 

"He's trying to insinuate that my father was a member of his Syndicate!" Sylvan shouted, pointing at Fremont. "That's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard in my life!"

"I'm just telling you the truth," Fremont replied. "Seeing as how you're about to die in a few minutes, I'm willing to share a few secrets with you. But since you don't want to know... I guess I'll just kill you now!"

  
"No!" I yelled, seizing my chance to attack Fremont. I leapt upon him, grabbing his arms and knocking the crescent blade from his hands. Then, I pinned him to the ground. "You won't hurt Sylvan or anyone else! Ed will not let you!"

"Well well," he said, grinning up at me. "Miss Appledelhi is still fiesty, I see... but now that your limbs are free, I've got no qualms about doing something like this!"

And then, I felt an incredible pain, as all the wind was knocked out of me. Fremont had used both his legs to kick me hard in the stomach, and I'd felt it, being tossed back, my back hitting the floor. The kick was incredible... I couldn't talk, or breathe, or anything else, at least not for the next few seconds anyway... but the attack sent Sylvan into a rage. He lunged at Fremont even faster than I had, but incredibly, Fremont managed to spin around and grab Sylvan by the wrist, lifting his hand into the air before he could fire his gun.

"Let... me... go!" Sylvan shouted, trying to get out of Fremont's grasp as I slowly stood up. I looked around on the ground for Fremont's blade, and found it lying several feet away from the two men. I started to make a run for it, but stopped and gasped as I heard a sickening cracking sound from behind me. As I looked, I could see Sylvan clutching his wrist as Fremont dashed away, picking his blade up from the ground.

"Sylvan, look out!" I screamed, watching Fremont prepare to toss his blade in Sylvan's direction. 

"It's too late for you now!" Fremont shouted, throwing the blade with incredible velocity. As Sylvan finally saw the blade rushing toward him, he pushed me out of the way and screamed as the blade caught him in the side, causing him to fall to the ground. I rushed to Sylvan's side and wrapped my arms around him, looking at the wound. It wasn't serious, but it was enough to cause Sylvan a large amount of pain, which is why I was embracing him... I wanted desperately to take his pain away.

"Sylvan, it's going to be okay..." I said, hugging him as he slowly tried to stand up.

  
"Ed... thank you..." he told me through clenched teeth. "Thank you... for coming here..."

As I looked down, I could see the gun, still clutched in Sylvan's right hand.

"It's not broken," he said. "My wrist, anyway... Fremont tried to break it, but I pulled away at the last second... hurts like hell, though..."

"It's okay, Sylvan... Edward is here now," I said, smiling at him. "We'll beat Fremont together, okay?"

"Isn't this nice," Fremont said, advancing toward us with his blade in hand. "Richilieu and Marishani never got a chance to embrace.. what with her being tied up in the clutches of about four of my best men, and Richilieu already badly beaten and all. Hmm... this makes the two of you almost like brother and sister, doesn't it?"

I gasped. My mother's name... he'd mentioned my mother's name... now I knew. Cecelle Fremont had had a hand in my mother's death... but... my mother and Sylvan's father, dying together? It didn't make sense, unless...

"What do you mean?" I said, standing up. "It can't possibly be true... can it?"

"That's why this whole thing is so funny... those who don't know the past are destined to repeat it. It's so beautifully ironic, wouldn't you say?"

"You're a LIAR!" Sylvan shouted, standing up in a rage. "My father was NOT a member of the Syndicate! He wasn't, I refuse to believe it! He-"

"Sylvan... I think... I think he's telling the truth," I said sadly. "When he kidnapped Ed, the way that he... he said Ed had her mother's eyes, and-"

  
"He thought I was my dad," Sylvan said. "It is true... my father really was in the Syndicate... but... how could he lie to my mom all these years... how could he... how could he cheat on her like that?"

"Your father truly did love Marishani, Sylvan," Fremont said, a grin appearing on his face. "I'm really not sure he'd do for your mother what he did for Marishani... when my men brought her out, he went after me like an angry dog, earning a stab through the stomach for his trouble. Then, the beating, for the next two minutes... I knew I had to make him pay. I knew about his real life, in fact, I considered going after you and your mother first, Sylvan. But I couldn't bring myself to kill a child... I still had a shred of ethics left in me. And besides, he loved Marishani so much more. We were comrades, Sylvan, your father and I... but he was willing to let me die so he could spend time with the woman he loved. That's why they both had to die."

__

That's why they both had to die... He killed them both... he enjoyed killing them both.... my mother, and Sylvan's father... the revelation stunned me. I couldn't do anything... but Sylvan could. I heard his anguished yell, and it sent a wave of sadness through me... and then the tears came. Streaming like rivers down both mine and Sylvan's faces... I'd never felt such anger, nor such sadness... for a second, I thought about simply retreating into my Radical Edward world again... letting Sylvan and Fremont duke it out while I sat about carelessly, the happy-go-lucky person I once was. But no... while Edward was now ingrained in me, a part of me... there was a time for it, and I knew that now. Until Cecelle Fremont was destroyed, I couldn't be happy again... or pretend to be. _It has to end here..._

"YOU SICK BASTARD!" Sylvan shouted, firing a single shot right at Fremont's head. The bullet missed, there was no way Sylvan could see straight through all the tears in his eyes, but it did take a small chunk out of the top of Fremont's left ear, causing him to wince slightly.

"That's it?" Fremont asked. "C'mon, Sylvan... show me your rage. Don't put up a pathetic display like your father did!"

As Sylvan emptied the clip of bullets firing at Fremont, I heard one noise, over and over..._ Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. _The bullets were bouncing off of Fremont's crescent blade, he was blocking them all... _Click. Click. Click. Click._

"Goodbye, Sylvan Mazarin," Fremont said. 

"You haven't forgotten about Ed, have you?" I shouted, causing Fremont to turn toward me. I ran at him and struck him hard with a powerful punch to the forehead, knocking him down instantly. As I kicked at him on the ground, he rolled away, slicing me on the ankle with his blade as he rolled. I saw a fairly deep gash in my ankle, but I kept running, even as Fremont stood up and swept his crescent blade straight at my face. I ducked out of the way and bashed my forehead against his, knocking him even further back, until I had him trapped against one of the plexiglass walls of the observation deck. 

"Well well, Miss Francoise Appledelhi, you seem angry as well..." Fremont said. "Don't you hate your mother for running out on you and your poor father like that? She deserves what she got, the stupid-"

"NO!" I yelled, my hand wrapping around Fremont's neck and squeezing as hard as I could. "I loved my mother... I still do... and so does my father! It doesn't matter what she did, no matter what, she'll always be loved by her friends and her family... how dare you take her away from us! And you used her to get Sylvan's dad killed to... you're a horrible person!"

"Is... that... all?" Fremont said, struggling to talk as I strangled him even tighter. "Excellent choice... of last words... Edward."

A sharp pain in my torso. I looked down, and saw Fremont pulling his blade out of my stomach, covered in blood. A huge gash had been pierced just below my chest, and I immediately let go of Fremont's neck and stumbled backwards. He'd barely missed my stomach, I knew that, or I'd be dead by now... he hadn't hit anything, but as blood poured from the wound, I knew I was severely injured. I collapsed onto the floor of the observation deck and gazed at the ceiling, my eyes beginning to roll back into my head.

"EDWARD!" Sylvan shouted desperately, bringing me back to my senses. _I can't pass out... I can't die, not now!  
_

"Worthless, pathetic girl," he said, rudely kicking me away. I rolled a few feet before coming to a stop, lying on my face as my midsection was engulfed in burning pain. 

"Ungh... Sylvan, I'm alright," I said weakly, and began trying to get to my feet. _"If Ed can't get up, Sylvan's spirit will be crushed... Edward has to show strength, to give Sylvan strength in turn! You can do this, Ed!"_

"Oh, Ed," Sylvan said, extending his hand and helping me to my feet. "Please... please be alright... I'm so sorry, I-"

"Ed will be fine, Sylvan," I said. "It doesn't hurt all that much... he missed Edward's stomach by a mile, don't worry... you've got to finish him, Sylvan... for both of our parents."

  
Sylvan reloaded his pistol.

"This is my last clip," he whispered into my ear. "I... won't let us down."

"I can't believe you'll still conscious," he said in disgust. "I hate Radical Edward."

"Ed can't see why," I said. "You're the one that... created her, after all."

"It's just between you and me now, Fremont," Sylvan said angrily as I limped over to the other side of the room. "You're going to leave Edward out of this."

  
"Fine with me," Fremont said. "I didn't kill her mother until after I'd killed your father, Sylvan. She got a lot more pain from seeing him die than from the bullet I put through her neck."

"Shut up!" Sylvan yelled, running at Fremont and firing several shots at him, all of them missing. As Sylvan prepared to fire again, Fremont swept his blade at Sylvan's chest, and Sylvan had to parry the slash with his gun, trying to push Fremont's blade back toward him.

"Not this again," Fremont said, straining to hold Sylvan's gun back. "You know... I always win strength contests anyway."

"This time... it's different," Sylvan said. I noticed that Sylvan had switched his gun to his other hand, since he'd been shot in the shoulder earlier and the bullet wound was causing him far too much pain to be able to fire effectively with that hand. I grimaced from the pain in my stab wound, placing my hand over it to try and stop the bleeding. I'd never been hurt this badly in my life... _my dad's going to have a heart attack when he sees this... _

"Dumb boy... take this!" Fremont shouted. As I strained to see what was going on, Sylvan howled in pain, lifting one of his feet into the air... Fremont had stepped on Sylvan's foot during the struggle. As Sylvan was distracted, Fremont pushed Sylvan's hand out of the way and slashed at him, missing Sylvan's head by a hair as Sylvan ducked under Fremont's blade. Then, Sylvan struck back, punching Fremont hard in the stomach and causing him to expel a loud breath. Then, he slammed his elbow into Fremont's chest. Fremont was ready, though, immediately countering with a forearm to Sylvan's face, knocking him down hard to the ground.

"Sylvan!" I shouted, immediately clenching my teeth in pain as the searing pain in my midsection fired up again.   


"Ed, take this!" Sylvan shouted standing up and ripping off his shirt and tossing it over to me. "Tie it around your wound to step the blee-"

Then, I gasped again as Fremont stomped on Sylvan's already-wounded shoulder. Sylvan screamed again, but managed to roll out of the way as Fremont tried to stomp him again.

"Ed, get the shirt!" Sylvan yelled, standing up. Extremely concerned for Sylvan's safety at this point, I hesitated for a few seconds, but then did what I was told, grabbing Sylvan's t-shirt and tying it tightly around my wound. It helped, stemming the bleeding somewhat, but I still felt quite dizzy, and I knew that if I didn't get medical help soon, I'd pass out from the loss of blood. _Definitely not a good thing for Edward..._

"You seem awfully concerned about her, Sylvan," Fremont said. "You know, I'm starting to think that this fight is simply revenge for me kidnapping Ed a few days ago. You don't care about your parents, or the people in this tower. It's all about her... she wouldn't be up here in the first place if it wasn't for you, Sylvan. You've already gotten her almost killed... she'll die from loss of blood before you finish me off, if you _can _finish me off, which it doesn't look like you're going to do, since you're clearly losing. What say you to that, Sylvan?"

"Think what you want to think," Sylvan said angrily. "I know one thing... one way or another, Ed's going to live, and you're going to die. I don't care what happens to me anymore."

"Sylvan, you can't say that..." I whispered. _"Sylvan, you're Ed's friend... you can't die, not now... Ed has faith in you, Sylvan!"_

"Then why do you persist? For her? What about the rest of the people here? Surely you care about them. I wonder what would happen if I threatened to press this..."

  
Fremont removed a small, black device from his pocket, with a small red button on top. I knew immediately what it was... a detonator. But the bomb had already been deactivated... surely Sylvan and Fremont didn't know that.  


"I press this and kill everyone here, Sylvan," Fremont said. "You, me, Edward... this operation's not going to be successful, I already know that. Too many people are rebelling... once we release the hostages, this place will be retaken. If pathetic, insignificant people like you dare to rebel, someone else will, and if you can do this much to me... well, I dare not to think what an insurrection of hundreds will do."

"Fremont, don't you dare press that button!" Sylvan shouted. 

"Sylvan, I-"

But before I could tell Sylvan I'd deactivated the bomb, Fremont pressed the button. Sylvan immediately screamed in anguish, but I knew what would happen... absolutely nothing. Fremont gasped in disbelief.

"WHAT?" he shouted, pressing the button again. "What the hell-"

"It was me, Fremont... Radical Edward spoiled your evil plan!" I shouted, smiling. Now I knew that I'd saved thousands of lives... the first happy news I'd gotten in quite some time. But there still was the matter of Cecelle Fremont to deal with... come on, Sylvan...

"You bitch!" Fremont yelled. "I'll-"

__

Bang.

"Argh!" Fremont yelled, collapsing and clutching his stomach in precisely the same spot he'd stabbed me in earlier. Sylvan must have been shooting for Fremont's chest, but hit lower than he'd wanted to. Still, the gunshot brought Fremont to his knees. 

"That's for Ed," Sylvan said. _So he WAS aiming for that spot... for a little poetic justice, I guess... this isn't time for playing games, Sylvan! Finish him off now! _"And this... is for everyone else you've hurt."

  
"No!" Fremont shouted, diving upon Sylvan. He was startled, and the gun flew from his hands. Fremont had left his blade on the floor, instead, choosing to assault Sylvan's face with a rain of deadly blows. As each punch landed, Fremont grew more and more angry, and Sylvan screamed louder and louder. "You're... both... going... to die!"

"Not if Ed can help it!" I yelled, ignoring the pain in my stomach and running toward Fremont as quickly as I could. But as I did, Fremont leapt up from Sylvan, grabbed his blade, and ran at me. Whether he was more enraged or deranged, I couldn't tell. As I leaned forward to throw a punch, he swerved to the side, running around me. 

"Ed, behind you!" Sylvan yelled, still on the ground. But before I could turn back to face Fremont, he grabbed me from behind, holding his blade to my neck. I tried to scream, but Fremont's hand clamped over my mouth, stopping me from yelling anything at Sylvan. Sylvan crawled toward his gun and grabbed it, standing up and facing down Fremont, the gun trained at the both of us.

"What are you going to do, Sylvan?" Fremont shouted. "Kill me? I'll kill her first! If I die, she dies too!"

I tried to yell out to Sylvan, but Fremont's hand muffled me, and as I tried to wrench free from Fremont's grasp, the wound in my side made any real effort impossible, the pain simply being too much to bear. Fremont's blade pressed against my neck, and I could feel the blood starting to trickle down. What did I really want to tell Sylvan, anyway? Destroy Fremont, don't worry about me? Then I knew... the reason why I came up here... it was so simple...

"Let her go, NOW!" Sylvan shouted, his gun pointed out. "Killing Ed is pointless! As soon as she dies, you die!"

"Can't you see I'm not afraid to die?" Fremont yelled. "I'm just like you, Sylvan! I was willing to blow up the tower a few minutes ago. I'd have been killed then, and I don't care about dying now, as long as I get to take your pathetic lover with me! History does repeat itself, Sylvan..."

"I can't shoot..." Sylvan said quietly. "I might... hit you... Ed..."

---

__

"You know what Spike told me? He told me that he didn't go to fight Vicious to die... he went to fight out if he was really alive!" Faye sobbed. "But... he wasn't alive... he was dead all along..."

---

I didn't go up here to help Sylvan fight Fremont... I went up here to find out if I... if I loved Sylvan... and... at that moment... with tears streaming down my face...

"That's right, Sylvan," Fremont said. "You'll hit her. So, will she die by your hand, or mine? You've got only a moment to decide..."

I finally wrenched free from Fremont's grasp, just enough to cry out...

"Sylvan, I love you and I trust you! Take the shot!"

__

Bang.

---

"Oh my God!" Sylvan shouted, collapsing onto the ground and sobbing. "Ed... I'm so sorry... I didn't know what came over me, so I pulled the trigger, and..."

Fremont's blade clattered to the ground... his body the next thing to fall. He had been killed instantly. I stood up and smiled, walking over to Sylvan.

"You did it, Sylvan..." I said softly. "I knew... I knew you could..."

  
"Ed?" Sylvan said, standing up. "I... I didn't-"

"You didn't hit me at all, Sylvan," I said, a smile coming over my face. "It's over."

"Oh, Edward!"

And as we embraced, the doors of the observation deck flew open, several sets of footsteps rushing into the room.

  
"Cecelle Fremont, you're under arre... wha?"

__

A SWAT team... 

But Sylvan and I ignored them completely, our embrace continuing for several more seconds... the pain in my body seemingly floating away in Sylvan's arms... finally, we turned around to face the police, who had crowded around the fallen body of Cecelle Fremont.

"What the hell happened here?" said one of the cops.

"That would be me," Sylvan said, the gun he was holding falling to the ground. "I... I shot him."

"Well, I'll be damned..."

"We need some paramedics in here right now," Sylvan said, pointing at me. "She's hurt badly..."  


"So are you, Sylvan.." I said, tears still running down my face. "Oh my God, Sylvan, are you alright?"  


"I am now..." Sylvan said. "At least... I think I'll-"

Then, Sylvan collapsed onto one knee, and as I went to check on him, I collapsed as well. I could see a team of paramedics running toward us. Then, everything went black.

---

"Francoise... Francoise?"

My eyes blinked open. There, standing over me, was my father, a worried look in his face. I looked around and could immediately see that I was in a hospital room, lying on a hospital bed and wearing a hospital gown.

"Oh, Francoise, I was so worried... I saw on the news about the Eiffel Tower incident, and you were listed among the people inside, so I hitched a ride with the Bebop and flew here as quickly as I could, but-"

"The Bebop?" I asked, still a bit groggy. "Daddy, are Faye-Faye and Jet-person here?"

"Yes, but they're only allowing one person at a time inside the hospital room... the doctor said that you got a nasty wound, but that it's mostly superficial and you should recover quickly... you'll probably be able to leave the hospital in about a day or so."

"What about Sylvan?" I asked my father, thinking that he'd know about Sylvan's condition. "Please, tell Edward how Sylvan is doing!"  


"Heh, he's doing just fine... he's in the same boat as you, he'll be out of the hospital tomorrow," said my dad. "He's just across the hall, but the doctor said that-"

"Ed is coming, Sylvan!"

I leapt out of bed, ignoring the pain in my heavily-bandaged side, and began storming out of the room, thankful that I wasn't hooked up to an IV or anything that would slow my process. I pushed my way out of the room, my dad following close behind me.

  
"Francoise, honey, the doctor's not going to like you getting up like that, are you sure you... please come back!"

"Miss Appledelhi, you can't get out of bed just yet!" yelled a doctor, running toward me. "Your wound isn't serious, but it needs time to heal, and-"

Ignoring everyone, I opened the door to Sylvan's room and rushed in. A nurse was handing him a bowl of ice cream, but she quickly leapt back in shock when she saw me. 

"Miss, you shouldn't be-"

  
"Edward?" Sylvan said, his face lighting up. "Is that you?"

"Yep, it's me, Edward!" I said, smiling at him. "Sylvan, are you okay?"

"Well, as you can see, I've got a bunch of bandages... and they had to pull a bullet out of my shoulder, but other than that, the doctors say I'm gonna be fine!" Sylvan said. "Ed, how about you?"

"Same here... Edward is going to be out of the hospital tomorrow, like you, Sylvan!"

"That's great, Ed," Sylvan said. "Edward, what you said back there... I had another dream about it..."

"Ed isn't lying, Sylvan... I... I didn't want to lose you, Sylvan... I love you."

"Edward... you really mean it?" Sylvan said. Again, I nodded, and he smiled warmly. "Oh, Edward, I'm so glad..."

As we leaned in to kiss, my dad began talking, interrupting us.

  
"Hey, guys, get a room. And I don't mean a hospital room!" my dad said, before starting to laugh. "You're really serious, Ed?"

"Daddy, I love Sylvan.... and did you just call me Edward?" I said. 

"Well, why not?" he said. "I almost lost you today, I thought I did... just like I lost Marishani ten years ago."

"Daddy, there's something Ed has to tell you about that," I said. "You might want to sit down...."

---

Sylvan and I exclaimed everything about Marishani and Richilieu to my dad. When he heard it, he obviously began to cry, and I had to hug him for about two minutes before he'd finally stopped sobbing enough to speak.

"It's my fault," said my dad. "It's my fault, I wasn't good enough to her... or to you, Ed... I was too concerned about my job, and I never spent enough time with either of you... I'm a real jerk... that's why she left..."

"No, daddy, it wasn't you," I said, trying to console him. "But it wasn't her, either... she just... needed some time off, that's all..."

"From what I knew of my father, he was a wonderful person... but you're just as wonderful, Mr. Appledelhi," Sylvan said. The nurse had given up trying to get us out of the room some time ago, and had left the room to give us some privacy. "I'm really sorry about all this..."

"No... it's alright, I'll be fine," he said, still sobbing. "At least now I know... what happened... and the person that did it is dead, thanks to the two of you... it's good to have closure, you guys... it's just that... I loved her so much, I wish I could have done more for her... I should have been there to save her!"

"It's alright, daddy..." I said, hugging him. "You did all you can do..."

"It seems that the two biggest heroes of this incredible and tragic day are Sylvan Mazarin and Francoise Appledelhi, also known by her hacker alias Radical Edward," came a female reporter's voice from the TV in Sylvan's hospital room. "Sylvan's incredible subduction of the Syndicate leader Cecelle Fremont, and Francoise Appledelhi's deactivation of the bomb led to the incredible police operation that managed to rescue over 12,000 people trapped inside the building as hostages, with only 228 people in total killed. It is unknown how the bounty for Fremont's death will be distributed, but since Fremont was wanted dead-or-alive, the bounty will be rewarded, and probably split between the two young heroes."

"Wow, Ed..." said my dad, his face lighting up. "That's really incredible what you guys did..."

  
I nodded.

"Maybe we should go visit the others... daddy, who all was in the waiting room with you?" I asked.

"Well, there were a ton of people wanting to see you. There was me, Faye, Jet, and a bunch of your friends from the college, along with a little girl and her parents and a few other people. You two are pretty popular..."

---

After my dad had regained his composure, Sylvan and I decided to head down the hall to the waiting room of the hospital, me wheeling Sylvan in a wheelchair, since he was hooked up to an IV, unlike me. We managed to talk the doctor into letting us, as long as both of us headed right back to our rooms afterwards. When the three of us (my father, Sylvan, and me) got to the waiting room, there was a whole group of people waiting. Kirsten, Asada, Curtis, Piripi, Sani, and Kimberly were there, of course, with Faye-Faye and Jet-person. When I arrived, Kirsten and Faye-Faye were having a rather spirited conversation (I just knew those two would get along!) Sukina and her parents were there as well, along with a whole blitz of media reporters. As I walked into the waiting room, the large group of reporters swarmed me, microphones and cameras in hand. With lightning speed, Kirsten intercepted them.

"Now now, Radical Edward doesn't talk to reporters without her agent's approval first," Kirsten said, "and as Edward's agent, I must decline all interviews until my client has fully recovered from her injuries."

"It's nice to see you too, Kirsten!" I said, giggling. "Yes, no questions right now, please! Ed wants to talk to her friends..."

  
"Edward!" Asada shouted, running up to me and giving me a big hug. She was followed closely by Faye-Faye and Jet-person. 

  
"Ed, we heard all about you on the news... I always knew your hacking skills would come in handy!" Jet shouted. "Glad to see you're alright!"

"You don't know how worried I was!" Faye-Faye said, hugging me as soon as Asada had stepped back. "How's it been going, Ed? It looks like you've made a ton of friends over here, and they've told me most of the stuff you've been up too, but you've got to tell me the rest, okay?"

"Ed, what's it like to be a hero?" shouted one of the news reporters. "That question is directed at Sylvan too, so-"

"Guys, Edward is serious... you need to leave for now," I said. "Daddy, what time is it?"  


"It's six in the evening, Ed," said my dad.

"We'll have a press conference at eight, then, alright?" I announced. "Please let Ed have some time with her friends, okie-dokey?"

It took a minute or two for my message to get through to the reporters, but they finally left after I told them to come back at eight for the press conference. That would give me at least a couple of hours to talk with my friends about the day's events... and to be with Sylvan before he had to go back to his hospital room. 

"Ed, I can't thank you enough for saving Sukina's life," said Sukina's father, a tall, strong-looking man. "And thanks to your friends, too... I know they helped as well."

"Any time," Asada said. "Sukina's a very nice young woman!"

"Well, not exactly..." Sukina said. "I told you guys how I was rude earlier... Ed, I'm really sorry again... I promise never ever to be mean again, and to always be a good sport!"

"That's not necessary, really!" I said, smiling. "It's good that you're pledging to be a good sport from now on, though, but all Edward really wants is your friendship, okay?"  


Sukina nodded and hugged me again. 

"So this is Sylvan," Faye-Faye said, walking over to him. "Ed's new friends told me a lot about you... wow, Ed, he really IS handsome!"

  
"Well, thank you," Sylvan said, looking a bit embarrassed. "It's nice to meet you, Faye... Ed's told me a lot about you guys and your adventures on the Bebop..."

  
"You wanna take a tour of the Bebop, Sylvan?" Jet asked. "Once you're all better, I mean. "It's parked right outside, so if you and Ed's other friends want to look around, it's no skin off my nose."

"That would be wonderful!" Piripi said, walking over to Jet. "Thank you very much, sir!"  


"Yes, that would be nice!" Sylvan said.

As Sylvan, my dad, and the rest of my friends and I began to talk, joke, laugh, and just have fun, I thought back to the times that I'd shared with my friends, even just a few hours ago today... and I knew that through all of the hard times I'd gone through, my few days in Neo-Paris were the best time of my life, even better than those few months on the Bebop. I'd made so many new friends, and I'd met Sylvan, the boy whom I now knew I loved. In just a few days, I'd be going back to Earth... I didn't want any of this to end, but I knew that when I returned in the fall to start college, all the fun times would begin again. Truly, this was only the beginning...

---

And so, Cecelle Fremont was defeated! But this chapter isn't the end, there's still one chapter left to patch up all the loose ends and say all the goodbyes before Ed goes back to Earth! So don't miss the final chapter! 


	21. Call Me, Call Me Let Me Know It's Alrigh...

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me. 

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few (non-generic) French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

Author's Note 2: Big shout-out to my Indianapolis Colts, who tore the Denver Broncos a new one in the playoffs today, 41 to 10. Let's take it to Kansas City next Sunday! Go Colts!

Reviews-

Katers: I meant to make it like Spike and Vicious, for the suspense factor. ^_^ The turning point was, of course, when Fremont started firing on Sylvan with Sylvan's weapon, unlike Vicious, who was far more honorable. That's when the fight became less of a ritual double seppuku and more of a brawl... which of course, Sylvan won. Thanks for reviewing!

Zepplinrose: I knew you guys would like that, hee...

Akemi Kimoto: Thank you!

Jim hawking jr.: Thank you too! First reviewer for chapter 20... ^_^

Ummyeah: Yikes, you drove 18 hours? I definitely could not do that, hee... and if Spikuu can parry with a handgun, so can Sylvan. ^_^

Saberpilot: Glad you liked this chapter! I tried as best as I could to connect everything and have lots of parallels... you know, I should probably start reviewing your ficcies, since you review so many of mine... *kicks self for being lazy, must start soon!*

Ka-Dalun: Sequel? I didn't actually plan to write one... if I had, I'd have left Fremont alive. A sequel's not out of the question though!

Bekkablair: You've actually BEEN to Paris? Cool... going there would've probably helped ME write this. And the Olympus Colliseum, eh? Well, have you done all the training stuff with Phil yet? Once you fight the Cerberus, you should be allowed to leave. Fought him yet? ^_^;;; 

---

"So, Kirsten, you want to be a psychiatrist?" Faye asked, sitting next to my friend. We had been in the waiting room for about an hour, and I was enjoying getting the chance to talk to all of my friends, as was Sylvan.

"No, a _psychologist_," Kirsten said, shaking her head. "I want to be a psychologist, not a psychiatrist."

"What's the difference?" Faye asked, slightly puzzled. "I mean, is there one?"

"Well, psychiatrists get to prescribe medicine, but it seems to me like that's all they do," Kirsten said. "Psychologists, on the other hand, have a more personal relationship with their patients, ya know? I want to be able to help people by talking to them, not just by handing them a bottle of pills and sending them on their way."

"Ya know, I think you'd make a good bounty hunter," Faye said. "Or a policeman, like you said your father was."  


"That's what Ed said too," Kirsten said, pointing over at me. "It sounds like a lot of fun, but it's a pretty hectic job..."

"It's probably good that you're getting into a job that lets you use your education, though," Faye said. "I went to college, but I was never able to graduate, after the shuttle accident I was in..."

"What was it like to wake up after fifty years, anyway?" Asada asked, drawing in closer to Faye. "I mean, that must have been horrible to..."

As Faye, Kirsten, and Asada continued their conversation, I left them and walked over to the corner of the room, where Sylvan was sitting in his wheelchair, alone for the moment. I sat down next to him and looked up into his beautiful blue eyes.

"Sylvan, how are you holding up?" I asked. "You've been alone over here for a few minutes... hey, why isn't your mom here, anyway? Edward would think that your mom would show up as soon as she heard what you've been through..."  


"The doctor said as soon as she heard, she fainted," Sylvan told me. "He said that she should be here anytime, though."

"I see..."

"Hey, you guys, what's up?" Piripi asked, walking over to us. Kimberly and Sani were with her as well.

"I really wish we could've gotten in on some of the fun," Kimberly said regretfully. "It sounds like you and Asada and Curtis and Kirsten and Sylvan saw a lot of action today..."

Sani nodded.

"We were so worried about you guys, being left behind like that..." Sani said. 

"It's alright," Sylvan said reassuringly. "It's not the kind of action anyone really wants to see, anyway... I know you guys wanted to help out, but being there was really dangerous, and we're grateful you weren't hurt..."

"I know," Piripi replied. "Well... maybe on the next adventure, huh?"

"Not for a while!" I said, giggling. "Ed had fun, but Ed is definitely ready for a breather now!"

"Sylvan?" shouted a woman's voice from the entrance of the waiting room. "Oh my God, Sylvan!"

We all turned to see Sylvan's mother, running toward us. My heart warmed as Sylvan stood up from the wheelchair he was in and wrapped his mother in a tight embrace. Tears were falling down her cheeks.

"Sylvan, Sylvan, I was so worried about you... oh my God, I'm so glad you're okay, oh, Sylvan..."

  
"Mom, it's alright," Sylvan said, brushing the tears away from her cheeks.

"But you're in a wheelchair!" said Sylvan's mother, sobbing. "You're hurt badly, aren't you..."

"No, I just got shot in the shoulder, and they had to hook up an IV so they could get some painkilling stuff into me... frankly, I don't even think I need it, I feel just fine, mom!" Sylvan said. "Really, I'm fine...."

"Are you sure, Sylvan?" asked Sylvan's mother. "Oh, you don't know how worried I was, I thought I'd lose you, I-"

"Your boy is a pretty tough kid," Jet-person said, walking up to us. "And believe me, I know tough..."

He showed Sylvan's mom the metal arm that he'd received in an operation, causing her to gasp.

"Oh my goodness, Sylvan, who is this person?" asked Sylvan's mom.

"Jet-person is one of Edward's friends! From the Bebop!" I said, smiling. "He's a really nice person, though, like a big version of Sylvan with more muscles!"

Sylvan, Piripi, Kimberly, and Sani laughed, while Sylvan's mom simply smiled.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Jet," said Sylvan's mom, noticeably happier than before. "I'm glad Sylvan's made so many wonderful friends... and I'm glad to see you're alright, Sylvan... you don't know how worried I was..."

"I was worried too, mom," Sylvan said solemnly. "I thought I'd never see you again..."

After Sylvan's mom came, the remainder of the hour went well, with more talking, laughing, and having fun. Finally, at eight, everyone had to leave, except for my dad and Sylvan's mom, who were counted as immediate family members and had the right to stay tonight. Sukina and her parents went home, while the rest of my friends were offered the chance to stay with Jet-person and Faye-Faye on the Bebop for the night, which all of them accepted, especially Kirsten!

"Bye-bye, you guys!" I said as Faye-Faye, Jet-person, and my friends left the waiting room. "See you all tomorrow, okay?"  


"You stay out of trouble now!" Jet yelled. "No more fighting Syndicate heads for a while, got it?"

"And no trying to sneak out of your hospital rooms tonight to make out!" Kirsten said, immediately getting an elbow in the ribs from Asada. I giggled, then sat down to rest for a few minutes to get ready for the press conference. 

"Now, when they ask you these questions, don't think you have to answer them all," advised my dad. "Some of these things might get a little personal, so-"

"Ed will answer whichever questions she wants to answer, okay, father-person?" I said, planning to be cooperative with the media. "The only ones she won't answer are ones that make you guys uncomfortable to answer, okay?"

Finally, the media were allowed to file into the waiting room, and the press conference began. Sylvan and I fielded a myriad of questions, most of them concerning our activities today, such as the fight with Fremont and Sylvan's escape from the ice cream restaurant, where he and Kirsten apparently saved about fifteen hostages. After about a half-hour of questions, the conference ended, and we did brief interviews with a couple of local networks before all of the media people finally left. Then, the doctors and nurses sent us back to our hospital rooms at about nine in the evening.

"You can visit with Sylvan tomorrow, alright, Miss Appledelhi?" one of the doctors said as he escorted me back into my hospital room. "I know you want to see Sylvan a bit more, but-"

"No, that's alright," I said, even though I really didn't really want to leave Sylvan... _Oh well, Ed will get to see him plenty tomorrow... we'll both be out of the hospital then..._

After all my ordeals with the French Syndicate, I was getting used to a reality that tomorrow may never come... now I needed to readjust myself, and start having fun again. We'd done it, we'd killed Cecelle Fremont, and after having about nine-tenths of its members arrested, the French Syndicate would probably collapse and never bother anyone again... that's what we'd accomplished, all of us. Together.

"See you tomorrow, Ed," Sylvan said, getting out of his wheelchair again and walking over to me. "I love you..."

We leaned in and kissed for several seconds. Then, we both walked back to our hospital rooms. I flipped up onto my bed, but quickly clutched the wound on my midsection when I landed.

"Ed jumped too high," I said, grimacing in pain and clutching my bandaged wound. "Ed hopes this owie heals soon..."

"It will, sweetie," said my dad, sitting next to my bed on a chair and smiling at me. "Just take it easy for a while, Ed. You've earned it."

Smiling at my father's words, I rolled onto my side and closed my eyes, letting slumber overtake me. _You have earned it, Edward... nighty night..._

---

"Wakey-wakey, Ed!"

I rubbed my eyes and saw Piripi and Asada leaning over me.

"Huh? What's going on?" I said, sitting up and blinking as the morning sun poured into the room through the window behind my hospital bed. "Hi, guys..."  


"Your friends came to visit, Ed," said my dad, smiling. "The other girls are in Sylvan's room. The doctors didn't like it, but hey, who cares what they think!"

"That's right!" Kirsten said, walking into the room followed by Kimberly and Sani. "You know, I wouldn't mind doing a four-month stint on the Bebop myself..."

"Well, Faye-Faye and Jet-person added a guest room last year!" I said, noting all the times my dad and I slept over on the Bebop for a day or two. "It wasn't nearly as comfy when Ed was on!"

"Curtis and I got to sleep in the same room," Asada said, immediately getting looks from everyone else in the room, including me. "We didn't do anything, you guys! Really, we didn't!"

"Suuure, Asada," said Piripi. "We believe you..."

"Nah, Jet and Faye wouldn't let us, anyway," Asada said. "They came in to check on us like, twice... but you don't really think I'd do something like that, do you? C'mon!"

"She's telling the truth," said Sani. "I don't think any of us are like that... well, yet anyway. With the possible exception of Kirsten..."

"Hey!" Kirsten said, pretending to be offended. "I'll have you know that I've only slept with _nine _guys, thank you very much!"

Kirsten was joking, of course... I think. (Ed knows you were joking, Kirsten! Don't look at Ed like that...)

"So, when are the doctors gonna let you guys leave, Ed?" Kimberly asked. "I mean, you're going to be okay soon, right?"  


"It looks like you got hurt quite a bit, Ed," Sani said worriedly. "They're letting you out today, aren't they?"  


"That's right!" I told them. "Don't worry you guys, Ed doesn't know when we'll be let out, but-"

"Six o'clock this evening," said my dad. "The doctors last night told Sylvan's mom and I that you two would both be released at six, unless you wanted to stay after to heal up some more..."

"No, Ed is getting out of here at six o'clock!" I said eagerly. "Six o'clock on the dot!"

"That's great, Ed!" said Asada. "Where are you doing to go when you do leave, anyway?"

"Well, probably back to the college to pack up Edward's stuff..." I said. "Daddy, we're riding back to Earth on the Bebop, right?"

"That's right, Ed," said my dad. "But Faye and Jet are willing to stay here for quite some time so that you can be with your friends."

"Well, I'm supposed to be back tomorrow," Kirsten said. "I'm getting out of school big-time for this, but I'll have a ton of stuff to make up when I get back..."

"I'm in the same boat, you guys," Asada said, frowning. "Sorry, Ed... it really, really sucks that we've gotta go back... I wanna stay in Neo-Paris, darn it!" 

"That's okay... Ed will try to call you guys every single day!" I promised. "It might make a whopper of a phone bill, but the bounty that Sylvan and Ed will get for catching the bad man will make up for it!"  


"Oh, that's right, Ed, I forgot to tell you... the ISSP will be here to give you and Sylvan the bounty money today," my dad said. "120 million wulongs... split evenly between the two of you. That's a ton of money, Ed..."

"Okay, you guys, you've been in here for twenty minutes now," said one of the nurses, coming into the room. "I know how close friends can be, I've got a bunch of close friends myself, but my supervisor said that you guys can only stay a little while... I'm really sorry, but you'll be able to see both of your friends tonight, okay?"

"Oh, alright," Kirsten said reluctantly. "Well, bye, Ed! See you both at six, alright?"

Slowly, my friends filed out of the hospital room. 

"That was a nice surprise!" I said happily. And it was a nice surprise, waking up to the sight of all of my friends like that... it's just too bad we'd all have to part in a couple of days...

---

Later that day, a couple of men from the ISSP came to Sylvan's hospital room. They invited me over to sit next to him as they began talking with us about the reward we were about to receive, with my dad and Sylvan's mom looking on.

"Now, about the bounty for the capture, dead or alive, of Cecelle Fremont," said the first man, who was wearing a neatly-pressed gray suit while the other one was simply wearing an ISSP uniform. "You'll both be receiving half of the 120 million wulong bounty. As laid down in the Pershing Laws of 2024, Article 2, Section 5, money collected off of bounties cannot be touched by any government for purposes of taxation, so you will each be receiving exactly 60,000,000 wulongs."

"Wow," said Sylvan's mother, turning to him. "We can pay off all of your college..."

"Yeah," said Sylvan. "It'll only be like 15 million wulongs... we'll still have plenty left over."

"We should probably pay off your college too, Ed," my dad said. "It's going to be really expensive, you know."

"Now, this is for Miss Francoise Appledelhi," said the man in the ISSP uniform. I listened to him with great interest as he continued to speak. "We know about your hacker alias Radical Edward, and we did quite an extensive background check on you... finding quite a bit of minor hacking offenses."

My heart stopped. _Oh no..._

"However, since you DID help bring an extremely dangerous criminal to justice, and since your offenses were all very minor, while causing very, very little economical damage, we've decided to grant you an unconditional full pardon," said the man in the gray suit. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, officer," I said graciously. 

"No, Miss Appledelhi, thank you," said the man in the ISSP-uniform. "You don't know how long we've been trying to catch Cecelle Fremont... he was an extremely dangerous man, and I think that everyone in the solar system can sleep easier now knowing that he'll never commit another crime again."

We thanked the two men from the ISSP again, then watched as they left the room. After they did, I began to talk with Sylvan, as well as his mom and my dad. We discussed many things, until we got to the rather touchy subject of Sylvan's dad's ties to the French Syndicate. While my dad had been quite surprised to hear of my mother's fate, Sylvan's mom had a reaction that surprised us.

"I knew," she said, looking down at the floor, her face taking on a sad expression. "I didn't know he was having an affair, but I knew he was in the Syndicate. He told me one night about a year before he died... I loved him so much, I didn't want to leave him..."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Sylvan shouted angrily. "You kept this secret from me for eleven years, even after the Syndicate began coming after us?"

"I didn't want to hurt you, Sylvan... I thought it would tear you apart, learning about what your father had done... I didn't even think you'd believe me, Sylvan..."

"I didn't believe it when I heard it from Fremont," Sylvan said, sighing. "I don't blame you, mom..."

"He said that he wanted to leave, but he couldn't... he was making money, Sylvan. It was dirty money, I know, but it was a lot of money, and it helped me start my restaurant... it helped me fulfill my dream, that's the only reason that he stayed in the Syndicate, Sylvan. He knew I was a good singer, in fact, he's the one who talked me into starting the restaurant... it was just a dream of mine until he actually helped me start it up," Sylvan's mom said, blinking back tears. "I loved him, Sylvan... and I know he loved me."

"I know my wife still loved me too," said my dad. "It all just happened so fast, but... I know she loved me until the end, even if she loved your husband at the same time."

"Fate brought Edward and I together," Sylvan said, and I nodded in agreement.

"And now, through our love, it's correcting the mistakes of the past, one day at a time," I said, speaking exactly what was in my head. _And this time, for Sylvan and I... it will work._

---

That evening, at six o'clock, right on the dot, Sylvan and I were both discharged from the hospital. Sylvan's mom offered to drive the three of us back to Dejoule Hall in her car. The four of us walked up to my dorm room first, and as I packed my stuff up into my suitcase, I tried to assess everything I'd done while I was in Neo-Paris... all of the adventures I'd had, the friends I'd made... having to put it on hold for six months until my first year of college started seemed almost too hard to bear...

"Well," said my dad as I packed up the last of my clothes (both old and new) into my suitcase, "Sylvan's mom and I are going to wait for you two outside."

"Alright," I said. "We'll be out in a couple of minutes!"

They stepped out, and Sylvan and I began talking.

"So, you're leaving tomorrow?" Sylvan asked.

"Yeah," I said. "Ed doesn't have to leave, but father-person does... a big meteorite fell somewhere in North America, and he's got to map out the crater... and Ed wants to go back with him."

"Are you sure you can't stay a couple more weeks?" Sylvan asked. "You can always stay at my house, you know that..."

"Sorry, Sylvan," I told him as I saw his smile turn into a frown. "Ed still misses father-person... but Ed will miss you too, Sylvan."

I kissed him on the lips, and his frown turned back into a smile again.

"Besides," he said, "we've still got tonight and tomorrow morning left, right? That's plenty of time... and you'll call every day, I know you will!"  


"Ed promises she will call!" I said, kissing Sylvan again. "Every single day... and we'll talk for hours!"

"Excuse me, excuse me..." came a voice from outside. I turned toward the door, and saw Joliet Depardieu, the head of the college's admissions department, walking into the room. _What's he doing here?_

"Good evening, sir!" I said, smiling. "Do you have some news for me?"

"Yes, some very important news," he said. "I'm happy to announce that the college has decided to give you a full-ride scholarship to New Parisian Liberty, based on your excellent test results and academic record, as well as your accomplishments and heroism yesterday. Excellent job, Francoise!"

"Thank you very much, sir!" I said, smiling. _"Wow, now Edward will not have to pay for her scholarship with the bounty money! And Edward can spend in on some other things... first of all..."_

"Isn't that great, Ed?" Sylvan asked. "Now you can come to college for free! It's pretty expensive, too..."

"Wait, Mr. Depardieu... did all of Edward's other friends receive full-ride scholarships too?" I asked.

"Well, your friend Kirsten Elysian has accumulated nearly twenty million wulongs in scholarships because of her academic achievements, so she'll be coming here for free... let's see, I think the others are getting some sort of partial scholarship award, but I'm not quite sure. I'll check my records and get back to you, okay?" 

"Ed, you're... you're going to pay all of their scholarships?" Sylvan asked. "Asada and Piripi and Sani and Kimberly? All of them?"

"That's right, Sylvan... Ed is feeling especially generous today!" I said as Depardieu left the room. "Sylvan, Edward will pay yours too, if you want..."  


"No, Ed, that's alright," Sylvan said. "I've got a ton of bounty money coming, I'll be fine... but thanks for the offer, Ed."

"You sure?" I asked, knowing that I could help out some of my friends and still have a bunch of money left over... 120 million wulongs was quite a lot of cash, and I wanted to give quite a bit of it to the people I cared about... 

"I'm sure, Ed," Sylvan said, smiling. "If you want to get me a really nice present, though, that could work..."

"Sylvan!" I said playfully, nudging him on the arm. "Don't worry, Ed will think of a great present to get you!"

"Hey, what's this?" Sylvan said, noticing a small piece of paper on my pillow. He picked it up and began to read it. "Tomorrow morning at the recreational center... farewell party, ten o'clock..."

"Wow, Ed's friends are throwing another party? Ed will definitely have to be there!"

---

My dad, Sylvan's mom, Sylvan, and I all spent the night at Sylvan's mom's house like my friends and I had several days ago. Then, we all got up and headed to the campus recreational center for our final party before we would all be leaving Paris and going back to our old lives, at least until the next year of college began...

"Ed, you came!" Asada said happily, running over and hugging me as we arrived at the food court just outside the arcade. Kirsten, Asada, Piripi, Sani, Kimberly, and Curtis had already arrived, setting up ballons and ribbons everywhere. Faye-Faye and Jet-person were there too, and they greeted us as we arrived.

"Okay, Ed," Kirsten said, leading me over to the arcade. "Before you leave, we've got to have one last Dance Party showdown, just you and me.

"Kirsten's been practicing all morning, Ed," said Sani. "You'd better watch out..."

"Geez," Jet-person muttered as Kirsten and I walked past him. "Seems like kind of a fruity game..."

"Jet, be nice!" said Faye-Faye, elbowing him in the ribs. "I bet _you _couldn't beat either of those girls.

"Well, of course I couldn't," Jet-person replied. "I've never played the thing."

Kirsten and I stepped onto the dance platforms and got ready to play for the second time. Our friends crowded around and watched intently as the game began.

"You can do it, Ed!" Sylvan yelled, shouting encouragement from behind me. "You're the champ!"

  
"Well, actually, Sukina's the champ," Piripi said matter-of-factly. "Well, I guess she gets disqualified for being a brat to Ed, so... Ed is the champ!"

"I think Kirsten's going to take the title back, guys," Kimberly said. "She's really determined to win this game..."

Both of us began dancing, but it was clear that the game was less of a competition and more of just a fun activity meant to well, be fun! We spent half the time giggling, but still managed to get pretty good scores, as our friends all cheered from behind us. Finally, the game was over, and we looked up at the screen.

"You know, Ed, why don't we just call this a tie?" Kirsten asked. "I mean, we're both such good friends... I don't really want to beat you, it'd make me sad!"

"You're right, Kirsten!" I said, smiling. "Edward calls the match a tie!"

"Uh, guys," Asada said, pointing at the screen. "It kinda is a tie."

We both turned toward the screen, and began giggling insanely when we saw the final score: 92,131,000 to 92,131,000. It really was a tie... 

"That's awesome, you guys!" Sani said excitedly. "Good job!"

"You go, girls!" Faye cheered. Kirsten and I stepped down from the platforms, and as I looked over at Kirsten, I could see tears falling from her eyes because she was giggling so much. I was still laughing too, but not to the point of actual tears... well, okay, maybe a couple.

"Good game, Ed!" Kirsten said, still struggling to talk, and now hiccuping because of her laughter. "Oh man... that was so much fun!"

"Let's play again!" I said, offering Kirsten a 'rematch'.

"Now now, you know the rules," Asada said. "Winner stays, and since you both tied, neither of you won... so I call next game!"

"Hey now, I thought in the event of a tie, we _both _win," Kirsten said. 

"And I challenge... Jet!" Asada said, pointing at Jet-person. "Jet Black, come on down!"

"Me?" Jet-person said, looking around. "Uh... but I don't-"

"Now now, Asada made the challenge, you've got to accept," Kimberly said, pushing him toward the dance platform. "Those are the rules!"

As my other friends and I poked and prodded Jet-person, he grudgingly stepped onto the second dance platform, and danced against Asada. Well, dance wasn't really the word, since he basically ended up just stepping on random tiles and losing by about forty million points. But through all of that...

"That was actually kinda fun," Jet-person said, stepping down off of the platform.

"And did you feel like a fruit?" Asada asked jokingly.

"Well, uh... not really," Jet-person said. "Maybe a sour grape for a few seconds..."

Jet-person's comment sent all of us into laughter, and for the first time, I truly felt at home in Paris. We partied for the next few hours, until, finally, it was time for my dad and I to go.

"Well, that was a lot of fun, you guys," I said, as Faye-Faye and Jet-person headed outside to start up the Bebop, which was parking right outside in the parking lot. "Edward will miss all of you..."

"Bya, fellow Earthling..." Sani said, smiling and wrapping her arms around me. "Maybe we'll see each other back on Earth... I really hope we do."

"Ed, it's been great," Kimberly said, also hugging me. "I'm gonna miss you..."

"Edward, you make sure to call me every single day, alright?" Piripi said, jumping on me and tightly squeezing her arms around my chest, being careful not to aggravate the wound near my stomach. "And give me lots of updates on you and Sylvan's relationship! I'm doing to try and visit Sylvan, since I live here in the city, but I want some updates from your end too, m'kay?"

Then, Asada walked over to me. By now, the wound she'd received from Cecelle Fremont's blade a few days ago had healed, leaving only the faintest of scars above her right eye. She'd gotten a new pair of glasses, with pretty silver frames that shined brightly, accentuating her beautifully tanned face.

"Ed, I'm really glad I was able to help you out back there in the Neo-Eiffel Tower," Asada said, tears streaming down her face. "I felt so bad about leaving you like that while you looked for Fremont..."

"It's okay, Asada," I told her. "You helped Ed out lots of times before, like back at the _Fantaisie Sign... _thank you, Asada."

  
"I'll miss you, Ed," Asada said, smiling. 

"I'll miss you too," Curtis said. "You were so determined to help save that little girl, and help Kirsten fend off those crazy girls back on the campus... I wish I was as determined to help people as you are..."

"I'll miss you both," I told them, leaving Asada and Curtis to say their own goodbyes, glad that one of my friends had also found a lover in Paris...

"Bye, Ed," said Kirsten, walking over and giving me a big hug. "You don't know how much I'll miss you... you were my number-one dance partner, you know that? And the only person I know that could beat me in a fight!"

As I hugged Kirsten, tears started to pour down my face. They were both happy and sad... happy that I had made so many new friends, and sad that I had to leave them all so soon... 

"Ed will miss you too, Kirsten... so much..."

"See you, space cowgirl," Kirsten said, squeezing me tighter, and I could feel the tears start to pour down her face as well. "Someday, somewhere..."

Kirsten and I finally released our grip on each other, and I walked over to Sylvan, who was standing right outside the door of the recreational center, as the Bebop floated a few feet away on the nearby sidewalk. As soon as I saw him, I ran over and embraced him as tightly as I could... Sylvan was the person I'd wanted to leave least of all... I loved him, and I trusted him with my life... always knowing he'd come through for me. 

"Edward, I'll miss you so much," Sylvan said, trying his hardest not to cry. "Oh, Ed, this is really hard..."

"I know, Sylvan, I know..."

We stopped hugging and looked into each other's eyes. Mine were now flooded with tears, and as he saw them, he began to let his tears flow as well... just a few, down his face, but they were more than enough to let me know how he felt.

"I promise, Sylvan, I'll call you every single day... I'll come visit during spring break, and the summer..."

"I know, Ed," Sylvan said. "I'm so glad I got to spend all of this time with you... and I know I'll see you again soon... thank you for letting me come into your life, Ed, and thank you for coming into mine..."

"I love you, Sylvan...."

"I love you too, Ed."

We leaned in and kissed one last time, our tongues finally meeting within our mouths, his lips engulfing mine... _I love you, and a kiss... that's all Edward needs... but Ed wants so much more... I love you, Sylvan._

We said our last goodbyes, and then I climbed into the Bebop, ready to head back home... back to Earth... back to the last months of my old life.

---

In my first week back on Earth, life was pretty routine... my dad mapped the huge new crater (with a little help from me), and I called my friends and Sylvan every single day, like I'd promised. I would spend hours on the phone, sometimes engaging in 3-way, 4-way, 5-way, 6-way, or even 7-way calls with all of my friends. Those times on the phone were great, and it was fun to hear about all of my friends' 'adventures' back on their home worlds, most of which involved school, of course. I especially relished my calls with Sylvan, and at night, we would spend hours talking to each other, sharing our life experiences, making silly noises over the phone (my second favorite part!) and letting each other how much we loved each other (my favorite part!). Joliet Depardieu called me a few days after I got back on Earth, and I did pay off Asada, Sani, Piripi, and Kimberly's college dues, which, thanks to all of the scholarships they'd already won, only came out to just over twelve million wulongs for the four of them. I paid Faye-Faye back three times over (that's three million wulongs), leaving me with about forty-five million left, which I planned to spend later, like on a bunch of presents for Sylvan, which I'd give to him when I saw him again in September. Even though we talked every day, I missed all of my friends greatly, and though we'd all see each other again in the summer (we arranged a meeting over the phone for mid-June), I'd have given almost anything to see any of them sooner...

---

About two weeks after I got back on Earth, my dad and I stopped off at my dad's boss' office. My dad wanted to report in on a special assignment he'd received to map out a crater in Alaska, and I followed along, going in and sitting down in the small office. I'd been there several times before, and so I expected nothing particularly out of the ordinary. I sat at the back of the room in a chair, while my dad sat across from his boss at a large desk.

"Mr. Resato," my dad said, addressing his boss. "I'm here to report on the progress of the Alaska assignment."

"Ah yes, the new crater," said Mr. Resato. "How's it going?"

"Just swimmingly, sir," my dad replied. "The crater's almost completely mapped, and I just need to work out a few elevation details. I hope you don't mind if I use-"

Just then, the door opened, and I turned to see who it was. A girl with platinum-blonde hair walked into the room, and I immediately recognized her face.

"Daddy," said the girl, "I'm sorry to interrupt you during your work, but-"

"SANI-PERSON!" I squealed, hopping out of my chair and hugging her. I couldn't believe it... I knew Sani lived on Earth, but I didn't know she was the daughter of my dad's employer! _Ed can't believe Ed had never seen Sani before!_

"Edward, I don't believe it!" Sani said happily, hugging me back. "Oh my gosh, daddy, this is one of the girls I told you about!"

"Um, really?" asked Mr. Resato. "Appledelhi, you never told me your daughter and mine knew each other..."

"Well, um, frankly sir, I've never seen your daughter before... I mean, I have, but on Neo-Paris... I didn't, uh... draw the relation," stammered my dad.

"Anyway, I made the finals of the Solar System essay contest!" Sani said happily. "My essay was chosen as the best one from Earth!"

"Really, Sani?" I asked curiously. "What did you write about?"  


"All of you!" Sani said, smiling. "My experiences in Neo-Paris! Daddy, did you know that Ed's a hero?"

"I heard about the attack on the Neo-Eiffel Tower on the news... so, you're Francoise Appledelhi! I knew that had something to do with your daughter!"

"Yeah, well, I taught her most of those moves...." my dad said, smiling. "Well, except the hacking stuff. She learned that herself."

"Yup yup, sure did!" I said, my face beaming. I got to see one of my friends early after all... Sani and I talked for several days as my dad finished up a few of his projects and charted some nearby craters. We both talked to Sylvan and our other friends together, and Sani gave me a tour of her town and introduced me to all of her friends back on Earth, of which I was now one of them... 

---

I'd done so much, seen so much, made so many new friends... I couldn't wait to go back to Neo-Paris for my first semester of college, and reunite with Sylvan and my other friends in the summer. I saw Sylvan earlier, visiting him as his home during spring break... I walked up to his doorstep, rang the doorbell, and there he was, his face still as handsome as ever. He was the same Sylvan, still caring, still kind, still wonderful... 

"Ed... it's so wonderful to see you again!" Sylvan said, inviting me inside his home. 

  
"Sylvan, Ed missed you so much... it's good to be back! I love you, Sylvan.."

"I love you too, Edward... _mon petit ange..._"

****

THE END

---

And that's the end of Fantaisie Sign, my longest and best ficcy yet! And my first first-person fic, a huge accomplishment! So, what did all of you think? Ed is Sylvan's little angel now... it's so sweet! ^_^ Well, they'll have to part again after spring break, but they'll see each other in the summer! And then once Ed starts going to college they'll never be apart again! Hmm... should I write a sequel? What do y'all think? I've got so many other sequels in the works, including Sammy/Ami coming up Tuesday, so a sequel to this will probably have to wait until 2005... but suggest away! ^_^ Thank you, readers! I couldn't have written a fic like this without your incredible support! 


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